Researchers hacked into the PlayStation 3 and obtained security keys that had been hidden inside the console for nearly 20 years. It is used by the lv0ldr bootloader, which is one of the first components launched when turning on the PS3. It examines and decrypts important parts of the system software before booting the operating system.
Thanks to the power of the Cell processor, the key is recovered. Its computing units do not always completely clear sensitive data after performing an operation. The researchers learned to interrupt the process at the right moment and extract residual messages, which was enough to calculate the lv0ldr key for one of the PS3 versions.
The main interest in this discovery relates to subsequent models of the console. Older PS3s already support full custom firmware, while the Slim 3000 series and Super Slim use a different boot process and are traditionally incompatible with full CFW. If the approach can accommodate these revisions, it may allow modifications to be made to the earliest stages of system startup.
