Ten days old, the Nintendo Switch can now be hacked – thanks to a loophole in an Apple product

After months of waiting, there are ten days Nintendo put its newest console on the shelves of the world, the Switch. The Japanese company's groundbreaking new (and apparently fantastic) idea seems to be rapidly gaining adherents around the planet, and with sales booming, the video game is born without the stigma of failure of its predecessor, the ill-fated Wii U.

One thing, however, was still missing: someone coming up with a way to hack the console (either simply for sport or for malicious purposes). Well, it was: a developer, self-styled on Twitter from @qwertuoruiophas already found a way to break into the Switch software. And, incredible as it seems, something that comes from our good old Apple there is a part of the blame on this depending on the lens you use to observe the case.

I explain: although the Switch does not come (yet) with a full web browser, the system has a “hidden” browser, not accessible to ordinary users, which basically serves for the console to log in to social networks and access the settings of certain Wi-Fi networks, such as those in airports and hotels that require the opening of a registration page. This browser uses the WebKit, a rendering engine developed by Apple that equips some of the biggest names in navigation in the world, like Safari and Chrome (although today it actually uses Blink, a fork WebKit).

What's the problem with: the version of WebKit used by Nintendo is not the most recent available and has some loopholes already discovered and documented, Apple, on its side, has already fixed these flaws in iOS 9.3.5, but Mario's company, for some reason, he dispatched the first consoles without closing the browser imperfections. With this, according to the developer who discovered the flaw, it is possible to run an adapted version of the jailbreak PanGu to unlock the Switch is something he has not yet done, but has already identified a viable starting point.

To those who understand English and like to delve (a lot) into the technical details, the developer LiveOverflow posted on YouTube a very enlightening video with a proof of concept of the process:

It is certain that, after the disclosure of the breach, Nintendo will run to correct it in the next software updates of the Switch. Still, a sign that perhaps the launch of the console has been a little rushed and other flaws may be present in your system. Bad signal for the community of game developers, after all, piracy, in addition to being a crime, is an extremely harmful practice to this industry. We hope that the problems stop here, anyway?

(via 9to5Mac)