The Nintendo Switch Can Be Hacked Via Known Webkit Vulnerability

Well let's hope we don't get the whole illegal circuit going.

HACK THE PLANET!!

This will be patched soon, knowing Nintendo, but the more pressing question is..will the Switch reach the dizzying heights of stability or, dare I say it, become even more stable than the 3DS?

So much good it's done then for Nintendo leaving out the web browser. I bet some hackers almost seen it as a challenge set by Nintendo.

Good to know. Wouldn't do it until the end of the systems life but fair play to the hackers!

It's really not anything at this moment

And people complain that the web browser on it wasn't there at launch (it sorta was but not easily accessible for the common user).

@tiwo91 that circuit didn't really get going on the 3DS, at least not to Wii levels, so it might not mean much.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I guess hackers do what they do? Devices are there to be broken .

What they do with the result is what matters the most I'm afraid.

Here we go.
The 3DS has more patches than a pirate convention, now it's the Switch's turn.

With the amount of stables in Botw the Switch doesn't need any stability updates.
It's the most stable game on Switch!

System stability incoming?

It was inevitable that the Switch would get hacked, but this was quicker then I expected. Leaving a known exploit unpatched seems like sloppy work on Nintendo's end.

Oh, Gosh...
Guys, keep your eyes focus on your Original Nintendo Switch !
Keep ignoring that Sinfully Temptation.
Be Original gamer.
Buy Original Nintendo Switch.
No hack whatsoever reason.

Not a question of if, but when.
This was inevitable, and no matter what Nintendo is going to do, this will happen again...and again...and again...

The worst thing that can happen now, is that Nintendo dwells on the issue and tries to get the system safe and puts everything else on hold for it...

@Anti-Matter Nah, hacks are fine.
Back in the day, it helped to force Sonys hand in unthrottling the PSP's CPU and granting developers full access to it (iirc, almost double the CPU power).

Much like people who disassemble systems (technically also a legal grey area depending on where you are) can show a systems physical strengths and weaknesses, OS hacks can do the same on a software side.

But yeah, support your system of choice whenever you can !

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I think the reason Nintendo did not include a web browser is; The Switch is a kids toy and lots of parents will be more comfortable knowing its not there. Kids are being exposed to insane **** on the web.

If I had a young child I certainly would not want an internet browser on their gaming toy that they bring everywhere with them. Nintendo are a family oriented company.

@Einherjar
This is very sad.
Everything in the world can be hacked as long still made by human (except if made by GOD)
The main important here is our self control against hacked stuffs.
If we know that hacked items has illegal purpose, if we still have kindness and respect inside our heart, we will not think hacking the system is a good idea. People who has no respect with author will keep doing their actions. As long it's free even by illegal way, they will keep doing that.
That's our lesson to not get temptated so easily with "Sinfully Matters" in the world.

There is a web browser on the Switch.

@Mart1ndo
Yeah, I agree with your opinion.
Nowadays kids bring tablet or Ipad anywhere, with web browser inside, staring at Youtube for several hours, watching even more risky videos with possibly vulgar language and bad ideas.
I have some students become a Youtube watcher victims. One of them is very Anti-Outdoor activities, even his parents not allowed him to join in any Outdoor activities (Scout/ Swimming/ Outbond).
What a miserable situation...

@Mart1ndo So let's make the console even more restrictable. This will surely make it popular among gaming userbase, right?

Parental controls were made for this reason. Give the people the option to disable the browser. Do not remove the browser from the entire userbase.

Why is there even a community of hackers?

Welp, there goes the plans for a web browser now, lol. And people wanted to know why Nintendo didn't include one in the first place.

@Anti-Matter Yeah, like no browser on Switch will prevent the kid from using any other home device to access the internet. But wait, if he really wants to use the internet, he can go to a friend's home or use an electronic store and surf on the internet for free.

@Mart1ndo What's this thing again?

Ironically they use Browser.

So the childless Nintendo Switch official reveal trailer was a lie?

Hacking the Switch to prove you can because it's your thing is cool. Publishing the results and shouting to the world it's possible and how to do it is a douchey move and sincerely hope that Nintendo brings the hammer down in this case. While it was a stupid move on SEGA's part that led to the situation, piracy was a big issue for the Dreamcast early in it's life. I don't want to same to be the case for the Switch. Let the system and games live and die on their own merits. I'd love to see these do jail time for being arrogant asses, although I know it's not worth Nintendo's time at this point as there will undoubtedly be a patch forthcoming. Hack on your own time in your own space. If others figure it out, good for them. Broadcasting it is a move.

Edit: There is precedent and legal means for jail time, btw.

@Anti-Matter Genetically modified food is, technically, hacking "God's creations", and it's pretty common. In a sense, mankind has been playing God ever since we started breeding different kinds of wolves (and then dogs), in order to create new variations... Hacking is, in it's essence, harmless. It's about learning how things work and changing a few bits here and there and seeing how the outcome changes. That's not to say some people do it for very different (and quite dishonest) reasons, unfortunately...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Exactly what I said. Bravo sir, you never disappoint.

@KTT Just read your comments now and am in total agreement.

If I were Nintendo, I'd wait until a less-hackable browser was ready and simply replace the current one. The current one may not be significant in the long-term, simply providing an easy way to do the job it needs to do now without giving anything away about the browser they actually implement in the end. Could be not showing their hand too early. Also, if this doesn't lead to anything, then it's not worth very much, so how much security the rest of the Switch has is important too, including signature checks for the eShop.

Or could be a bit sloppy.

Cloud saves, streaming apps and a browser ought to be implemented asap, I believe, as a measure to prevent hackers feeling they have a legitimate reason to improve the user experience. After that, it becomes much clearer that hacking at that stage is aimed more squarely at piracy and limits the appeal (well, a little bit...)

@KTT great comment. 👍🏻

As a person who hasn't a clue about hardware coding. This weakness mentioning iOS does this mean that the Switch firmware is some iOS Nintendo hybrid?
Is that why when linking the Switch to Twitter and Facebook they both refer to the Switch login as Safari?

So the software isn't even usable by gamers outside public WiFi logins and it was still hacked in ten seconds flat? Yeah, being able to order pizza from a console looks increasingly more worth the headache. :V

@Mart1ndo Somehow, that reminds me of how certain big company CEO's send their children to private schools, which don't use the internet in any capacity, or sometimes even no computers at all. Although, the reason for that is more likely to ensure the children do not have a lifelong "digital footprint" profile built about them by marketing companies, than to protect their innocent minds.

Exposure to difficult topics on the internet is only dangerous when there is no one competent in the midst of a young mind to guide them. The dangers posed by criminals and certain profitable enterprises alike are more worthy of building protective measures against.

@Laxeybobby The prototype web browser is based on Webkit, which the iPhone also uses to support it's own web browser. It's a good observation about the Safari part, since modern Apple products have a rather strange feature which integrates Safari into system processes. So that may be due to the NS browser originally being branched off of an iOS-based Webkit version, and not having that Safari integration fully removed at the stage where it was accessed by hackers.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Somehow, I can't think of that parental controls video anymore without associating with "WHEN PARENTAL CONTROLS DON'T WORK" 1&2.

HACK THE PLANET !!

sorry i couldn't resist...

i think this is a really funny story. first people notice there already is an actual webbrowser on the switch but its hidden and then people hack it

Awesome movie B)
Didn't someone already hack the Switch back when they were trying to back up the Zelda demo?

Nintendo knows that it can't avoid things like Twitter, even going so far as to abandon its own Miiverse. It needs some sort of browser to do this. They obviously can't stop hackers either way, so just make us loyal fans happy and give us what we want.

@Anti-Matter Hacks can be good/interesting like the Sony PSP exploit mentioned.

I remember that my first (hardware) hack was to an Atari controller in 1982. I rewire the fire button in space invaders, granting me a second laser shoot when moving, so it seemed like it was a double shoot! Then it was Kaboom and many others games that they were hacked.

Stopped at the DS because I thought that the 3DS was unhackable.

@Asaki Nah, it was a wii u which was at the start of hacking. That was a huge mistake from nintendo's part for not securing their consoles before using them for demos at e3. But like alot of demos, we may get our hands on this demo too

@Anti-Matter Never, put Doom on the Switch. Run awesome homebrew. Make the switch all yours.

@PlywoodStick
Thanks for the explanation. Tried watching the video in this link but it lost me. (Which isn't hard to do as I have no coding experience at all)

@Anti-Matter It all depends on how someone uses that power. The idea that it's "sinful" to learn more about how the system really operates, and can be used to it's full potential, seems to be based on the idea that people cannot possibly exhibit restraint and self-control when given power. It is true that many of those who seek power are certainly not of a mind to relinquish it once acquired, but I think it's a mistake to say everyone must be absolutely controlled by an authority figure. There does have to be some degree of order to prevent chaos, but if the scale is tipped too far in either direction, tyranny will result either way.

@PlywoodStick Huh...?

If this hacker just had BOTW, he would have spent his time wisely; hoarding mushrooms and acorns in Hyrule. I blame 1-2 Switch for this.

@Arehexes What about Halo Revamped?

@Interneto I'm just as confused as you are. What are you doing in Antarctica, anyways?

We are all sinners.

Lol

@bimmy-lee FINALLY! Someone gets it! Now we truly begin to understand the corrupting influence upon our impressionable mortal minds that 1, 2, Milk has brought into being. That was the Pandora's Box. It should not have been opened, much less imaginarily jerked off. What was Nintendo thinking!? You're not supposed to even pretend to jerk off Pandora's Box!

It's too late now. The memes are coming... The memes are coming.........

Isn't this less "Switch hacked" and more "old Webkit exploit is old"? I think this probably strengthens Nintendos position on "no web browser" if anything though. Fine the hackers can root the system and install Debian on it or whatever it is they want to do, but Joe User isn't going to be going to a URL in the browser to get unlimited snails and an all swim-speed-up set and keeping Joe User away from the browser is a good defense against any widespread uncontrollable issues like that from Nintendo's perspective (and they're technically right.)

@tiwo91 3DS had a insane hacking scene. Ithe was horrible. They had the Freeshop where they were downloading games right from nintendo's servers.

@PlywoodStick - Innocent teat stroking? Hardly. You can't put milk back in a cow, just like you can't stuff doom back in Pandora's box. Why cry over spilled milk when the apocalypse is imminent?

Wait... how did we get here?

@QuirkyNuzleaf That still applies in the present tense, 11.3 shut down a lot of things, but every recent new system still only comes with 11.2 or under. I presume new shipments will have 11.3 or newer in the future, but that hasn't happened yet.

The Switch needs a browser for a lot of tings, like public Wi-FI access etc. So Nintendo provided one for that, but was hiding it for the end-user.

Hackers know now, that the Switch has a browser, and have already found some weaknesses. They don't care, if the Browser is hidden or not. It doesn't matter, they will figure out ways to access it anyway.

Nintendo hiding the browser for the end-user is not making the Switch more secure. So Nintendo could just give everyone access now, if it is good enough and ready for use.

@Arehexes
Sorry, no thanks.
I will treat Nintendo Switch just the way it is.
That's my respect from my heart to Nintendo by purchase their original product without single of hacking inside.

I really don't think there is anything anyone can do to stop devices being hacked. People will always find a way. All these companies can do is release a new update that hacked consoles won't be able to use until someone finds a new way to crack it. These people take it as a personal challenge to find a way into devices again and again. It must make them feel intelligent, when they outthink software developers and find a way in. If that's their thing, whatever. I want nothing to do with it.

@Anti-Matter Companies don't care about you, they just want you to buy stuff. Hacking leads to jackasses pirating. Which is the only reason they hate it so much, it hurts the bottom line.

Not everyone who hacks a system does it to steal. Some do it to play imports (Why was the 3DS region locked), some rip their (they own) carts cause a game may not be on the eshop (Tales of Abyss). Some do it for new functionality luke streaming (so fun). Hell sometimes hacking hardware gives new or restored functionality. TI removed getkey to stop programmers from making games, hackers brought it back. They didn't care people cut their teeth on their hardware, they cared achools wouldn't buy thier product. So they removed a function that was there for years.

If you don't want to mess with hardware that's fine, but don't think a company will kiss your butt for being a good shopper.

@Baker1000 Technically we need people doing that so long as they're doing it to make it public and not doing it to quietly gain access to secured systems. They're the ones alerting the producers to problems they need to solve before the latter type get their hands on it and do malicious things.

Think about it between all the giant heads at Apple, Google, etc, guys like this still find the risks that made it through hundreds or thousands of professional testers. Then again, this particular guy didn't really hack much, he used an existing exploit for a known hole in an existing product. That's what we're down to with browsers these days, 2 engines in all products.

@Anti-Matter @PlywoodStick Funny how a thread about the Nintendo console being hacked turns into an international philosophical debate mirroring the ideas around the founding of the US The idea they came up with then was that basically, nobody can or should ever be trusted with power, nobody can or should ever be trusted with self restraint around power, not even themselves, and yet, authority figures were required to prevent the chaos that would result from everybody having absolute power over themselves, but a complex system needed to be designed to constrain that power, not by external force (through which the clever power consumed would circumvent) but by chequing that power by putting numerous different people and groups of people all seeking their own power and pitting their ambitions against each other in a never ending circle.

The fact that that system also effectively fell apart (at least partly) and we're down to groups of power that have circumvented most or all control and sized and concentrated far too much power, is little more then proof of how right they were. Humans are predators by nature. They will seize any and all power available and use it to secure their own position by weakening the positions of others. There are a few who are resistant to that behavior, but those are "a few per generation" level of rare.

@Arehexes Kind of defeats the point of a console though. You buy it for the convenience it offers through a pre-tested experience you don't have to mess with. Granted, Switch is the first console that brings something really unique on hardware terms that you can't replicate yourself through other means (phones & tablets don't have the power, laptops don't have the form factor of power efficiency) so it's actually a more reasonable desire for Switch than other hardware.

@NEStalgia I like messing with hardware. Adding features never tried or thought of. Being able to play a import on the 3DS is enough for me to tell people "hack your 3ds". Adding internet radio before Sony did it for the PSP. Maxing a processor to kill load times or slow down. Hell removing a plastic tab to play imports. I don't buy a console for conviance outside of handhelds and exclusives. And seeing stuff people do is amazing as hell. I got excited seeing Andriod run on a TI. Seeing a old calculator surf the web.

@NEStalgia
Ah, that's why our human nature tested by those occasions.
We can build our honesty and self control.
By doing so, we will never get interested to do something wrong.
We will feel guilty if we have to do bad things like that.
Back to ourself to control our future.

@Arehexes
Sorry, seriously I don't want hacking or whatever.
I feel guilty if I have to do such a thing like that.
I will not temptated to break the console, modding to be able play pirated, adding with something illegal, etc. No, no, no.

@Arehexes psp was great. They added loads of apps before Sony. YouTube. Dailymotion Netflix. Etc
Loved the psp

@Anti-Matter yea hacking is bad. Don't do it. Don't let temptation overcome you. Stay strong. Sinning is bad.

@Mart1ndo
that is a GREAT point that I hadn't thought of. As a father of 4 that would relax my mind. They can probably buff the parental controls for the web too if they want, but that actually makes a lot of sense.

@Anti-Matter Yes. And I think the take away is that, ultimately, no matter how much self control one has, there's still very few that won't be likely to abuse power if opportunity arises. I imagine it's tied into survival instinct. Nature is inherently harsh and we're wired to use any and all situations to our advantage. Abusing things (and people) when we have power over them is likely a natural response to using every situation for gain to survive, and thus why keeping a society in the balance between control and freedom (and unlimited freedom ending up with a few in control of all others.) Both ends are opposite results of the same part of nature, and balancing the two is almost a battle against nature.

@Arehexes Being able to play import games is the one on that list I can say "yeah that seems worth it." Maxing the CPU generally means butchering the battery and making the console run hotter, and the other stuff, well, despite my inner nerd being interested is just too much nerd-appeal for me these days

I wasn't going to buy a switch but when it's fully hacked for the enduser then I will buy. It's only a matter of time. The quicker they find a Kernel exploit the better

Sigh. Can we not have nice things for a MONTH?

At this rate, the Switch will soon be more stable than the infinitely stable 3DS!

@KTT @Anti-Matter
I just put out a "Thought" out there. No need to shoot me down. I still think I'm right.

@speedracer216
I don't actually know; Are you agreeing with me or are you being sarcastic. Apologies if you r agreeing with me.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
"So the childless Nintendo Switch official reveal trailer was a lie?"
Listen if you think Nintendo are not going to target kids with Switch, you're wrong.

@PlywoodStick
I don't know anything about that. It was just a thought I had.

HAHA.
Well now they'll have to release the full browser because security issues can't be an argument against it anymore. Afterall, it was already hacked without having a full browser. ^^

Btw: Why are Nintendo sticking to an outdated browser engine like Webkit anyway? It's been known for security issues for years, that's why Google switched from WebKit to Blink in 2013.
Nintendo could just license Opera or Chrome, both are running on the by far best browser engine out there.

@Mart1ndo
haha I'm agreeing with you

@speedracer216

How is the title picture to this news related to hacking? On the left there is a dude playing piano and on the right a girl phoning.

Quick question: If I open the browser on my Switch (e.g. by sharing a screenshot) the prompt at the bottom of the screen says pointer instead of cursor.

Is this a case of British vs American English or does the hacker maybe not have the day one patch installed?

@Anti-Matter Homebrew is sometimes worth hacking. Remember one of the most succesful and popular eshop 3DS app called Colors! 3D?

Well, guess what. I'm also enjoying its first homebrew version on my NDS. Yeah, this is how it began - as a homebrew, way before 3DS was launched.

The sole reason I bought a flashcard and "phat" NDS was to run Colors!. I already had 3DS and DSi, but that old resistive screen which can detect the stylus pressure is just too good to let it ignore.

@KTT I never knew the DS touch screen has a pressure calculator, while the 3DS touch screen doesn't...

I don't think your supposed to, but I was able to browse my Facebook feed on this browser. I think its because I had a few sign in errors while attempting to link my account. Once I got in, Facebook forgot about the whole linking process, and instead took me to the homepage. lol. I should have delved deeper.

@NEStalgia That was the marketed idea according to the statesmen, anyways. Their true intentions were to create another Empire posing as a Republic, in Classical Rome's image. (Hence all the Classical Roman styled architecture in Washington, DC.) One of them even wore a toga when they made public addresses, I'll have to look up who it was later, though...

The ideas of Thomas Paine, circulated through his pamphlets such as Common Sense, were the true ideas that got the common people going to convince themselves that a Revolution against probably the most powerful Empire at the time was worth fighting for, from multiple angles. The so-called "founding fathers" besides Paine didn't actually do more for the public than was needed to acquire votes. Reminds me of modern times, actually...

As for humans naturally being predators, to be specific, it was homo sapiens sapiens who predated and bred out or killed the neanderthals and original homo sapiens. Thus, only homo sapiens sapiens exists today. However, we have evolved since then. Further violence, while supremely lucrative, has now become a deterrent to survival, rather than a necessity. Genetically, we have not outgrown our old habits, but we must do so. Otherwise, humanity has no future.

So... Uh... Yeah, mods are good, tyranny bad.

You don't even need to hack to get the browser. There is an exploit with Twitter

@BinaryFragger Yeah old systems are a whole different thing....it's kind of a form of recycling if you can find something to do with it (and if you don't like collecting your old systems like some of us )

@PlywoodStick

Nintendo never advertised it. Knowing them, I wouldn't be suprised if they wanted to prevent kids from breaking the screens and avoid the parents rage. So they pretended it never existed.

Edit: and frankly, I cannot remind myself a single title which uses the feature. Besides the homebrew ofc. Which suggests that the big N gave a directive to the devs to ignore the pressure altogether. Or, that the devs were clueless about it (maybe the dev kits were purposely restricted, dunno).

I just hope that the Switch gets as secure as the 3DS has with the last 80 updates.

@snil4 Oh, yeah, that's right.