At a time when the PlayStation 5 scene seemed stagnant, developer Gezine has rekindled the interest of the global community with a potentially disruptive project: Y2JB, a userland exploit that promises to redefine the boundaries of security for the Sony console.
This is a quiet discovery, initially shared on GitHub threads and underground forums, which is now rapidly spreading among experts and enthusiasts.
Y2JB is a working proof of concept, still raw but operational, which exploits a vector as unpredictable as it is ingenious: the official YouTube app for PlayStation 5 .
Gezine, already known for creating crucial exploits on PS4 such as BD-JB up to firmware 12.50, has found an unexpected flaw in the video streaming platform.
The idea is to exploit the structure of the YouTube app , specifically version 01.000.003 , to upload arbitrary code and gain userland-like access to the console, i.e. at user level, without kernel privileges but sufficient to open new avenues towards homebrew and emulators.
The operation is surprisingly simple: just perform a modified backup restore of the PlayStation 5 , containing the YouTube app PKG package already “infected” with the exploit.
Once the file is uploaded to the console, the app starts and after a few seconds an intentional crash occurs: this crash is not an error, but confirmation that the code was executed successfully.
All of this happens offline, meaning there’s no internet connection or immediate risk of detection by Sony’s servers. The idea of injecting code through a seemingly innocuous app, without the need for a Blu-ray drive, specialized games, or a browser, has been hailed by many as a stroke of technical genius.
The promised compatibility covers a wide range of firmware, from 4.03 up to the recent 12.02 , meaning that even many updated consoles could theoretically be vulnerable.
This represents a significant improvement over previous exploits, which only worked at much lower versions. However, the method comes at a significant cost: a complete system wipe , meaning the complete deletion of saves, settings, games, and personal data.
For this reason, Gezine recommends testing it only on a “disposable” PlayStation 5 console, intended solely for experimentation.
However, those who own a PS5 with firmware 12.02 , the latest currently compatible with the exploit, can still save their progress by backing up to the cloud, provided they have an active PlayStation Plus subscription .
To do this, go to Settings > Saved Data & Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS5) , select Console Storage to view your local data, then choose the saves you want to protect and select the Upload to Cloud Storage tab .
Y2JB traces its roots back to the work of @aves, who previously discovered how a YouTube package could be run on retail PS5 hardware, breaching the security system.
Gezine took that discovery, analyzed it, and expanded its potential, combining it with years of experience reverse engineering Sony consoles.
Tests conducted by various users report positive results on various firmware versions, including 9.60 and 10.40, and even on PS5 Pro versions .
However, Y2JB is not yet a full-blown exploit. It is a limited user-level exploit that does not allow the installation of pirated games, modification of firmware, or use of cheats.
To fully unlock the console, you need a chain, which is a sequence of linked exploits that also includes a kernel exploit , capable of gaining maximum system privileges.
In this context, Lapse comes into play, a double free exploit that works up to firmware 10.01 and could be paired with Y2JB to create a complete chain.
For later releases, such as 10.20 or beyond, the community is looking forward to the UAF kernel exploit discovered by TheFlow , which however is not yet public nor stable.
Gezine himself, in a post on X (Twitter), acknowledged his own limitations: he stated that he was not an expert in JavaScript , an essential language for linking userland and kernel-level exploits into a coherent chain.
For this reason, he expressed the desire to collaborate with other experienced developers such as flatz or sleirsgoevy , historical figures of PlayStation modding.
Despite these limitations, Y2JB ‘s impact on the PS5 scene was immediate. For the first time in years, there’s a concrete prospect of unlocking even on recent firmware .
For those who own a PS5 with firmware 10.01 or lower , the future seems close to a turning point: a complete exploit chain capable of enabling native homebrew, fPKGs, and advanced tools could arrive by the end of the year. For the rest, the wait continues, or alternatively, the search for non-updated models.
The revolution, as Gezine writes, has only just begun. The community is buzzing, and every new tweet or video from the developer is greeted as a potentially historic announcement.
“ Stay offline, stay safe,” experts recommend, as the echo of Y2JB continues to grow, perhaps ready to rewrite the history of modding on PlayStation 5 forever.
Download: Y2JB_POC_Backup_PS5_FW4.03-12.02
Soruce: x.com, Github.com, biteyourconsole.net
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