Xbox 360 vulnerability fixed by Microsoft
Microsoft has released a fix for a security flaw that could allow Xbox 360 owners to run their own applications or operating systems on the console. Microsoft has issued this fix very quietly without making much of brouhaha about it.
The latest Xbox 360 update rectifies a problem with a tamper protection mechanism on the Xbox 360. Hackers had discovered a way to break through the shield and run their own software, including operating systems such as Linux, on Microsoft’s next-gen game console.
The entire list of details of the Xbox 360 security vulnerability was revealed last week in a posting to two widely read security mailing lists. The Xbox 360 flaw was actually discovered in November, demonstrated at a hacker conference in December, and fixed by Microsoft in January, according to the posting by an anonymous hacker.
The anonymous hacker wrote, “Together with a method to inject data into non-privileged memory areas, this vulnerability allows an attacker with physical access to an Xbox 360 to run arbitrary code such as alternative operating systems with full privileges and full hardware access.”
Microsoft confirmed the issue on Friday. In an e-mailed statement, a company representative stated, “Microsoft has worked with the party that reported this issue and has already distributed a fix across our distribution methods, both online and offline.”
However, Microsoft doesn’t term the Xbox update as a security fix. Instead, on its website it lists an “operating system update” for download, without stating what the update does.
The Xbox and other game consoles have always been well-liked hacker targets. The challenge for hackers is to circumvent protections on the devices to run their own, so-called homebrew code on the device or load another operating system.
A whole market for Xbox cracks grew around the first version of the game console. Add-on chips for the Xbox called “mod chips” which allow users to play pirated discs and other applications. Furthermore, some groups claimed they could run Linux operating system on the Xbox.
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March 6th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
This isn’t a “security” issue like the article makes it sound. Where there is hardware hackers will find a way to customize and improve. The original Xbox can be made into a media machine with upgraded hard drives and games that don’t require a disk. It’s not an issue of malicious intent on the part of hackers and the writer of this article should rethink their slanderous depiction of the hacking community.
March 6th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
So, Microsoft has released a fix to keep me fom sing a maching I paid for to do what I want? Why is that a fix?
March 7th, 2007 at 1:56 am
This article is in poor taste in regards to the hacking community. I’m not impressed.
March 7th, 2007 at 2:00 am
This is akin to an automaker claiming that customers who buy their car and replace the engine with another brand are somehow violating the owners agreement, then performing a forced recall, and refiting them with kill switches in such an event. The console is a PRODUCT, not a SERVICE. An OWNER should have the right to turn it into a toaster oven if they want.
March 7th, 2007 at 3:02 am
You know, if Microsoft allowed users to play divx files and surf the web with the xbox 360, you know like you can in windows, then there would be little reason for hackers to sink their teeth in. I modded my xbox to play my movie library on demand, or to listen to online radio, or to preview movie trailers. If the XBOX already did that, then I would have no reason to mod it. Hacking isn’t always to steal or cheat. Much of the time it is to enhance the value of the product we paid for.
Anyone guess why the wrt router from linksys is the best selling router of all time?