Hackers achieve partial tethered jailbreak on Nintendo Switch 2

Security researchers have demonstrated a software-only partial jailbreak on the Nintendo Switch 2, several outlets reported. Ars Technica and TechPowerUp both report that researcher Sammy Hajhamid used OpenAI Codex to find an integer overflow exploit in the original Nintendo Switch game SmileBasic 4. My Nintendo News and The Verge Games reported that the exploit enables the execution of custom homebrew code on the platform. [1][5][6][7][10]

The jailbreak provides userland system access on the console, Ars Technica reported. According to Ars Technica, this access allows players to modify games, run homebrew software, back up system save files, and interact with console peripherals. The Verge Games reported that modders have already used the exploit to run a modified version of Mario Kart World containing custom playable characters. [1][7]

The exploit is tethered, which means the modification is lost whenever the system is turned off, according to My Nintendo News and KitGuru. Ars Technica reported that the process requires a connected Linux or macOS computer on the same local network to run a node.js package that enables privileged system access. [1][3][6]