Switch 2 Allegedly Jailbroken Through Software-Only Exploit

Image: Nintendo Life

Nintendo appears to have removed the programming software SmileBASIC 4 from the eShop following the supposed discovery of a Switch 2 jailbreak.

The “software-only” tethered jailbreak ‘ns2jb‘ was apparently created by Sammy ‘pepsipu’ Hajhamid, with the help of OpenAI’s Codex.

It allows arbitrary native code to run, and can supposedly be used to “run homebrew, reverse engineer and mod Switch 2 games” as well as back up save files. It uses the Switch 2’s latest firmware 23.0.1 and requires access to the now-delisted Switch title.

The security researcher and modder believes this is the “first such exploit for the Switch 2” and claims to have successfully added the characters “cinnamoroll, peter griffin, hatsune miku, and more” into Mario Kart World to demonstrate its capabilities.

“This lets us run homebrew, reverse engineer and mod Switch 2 games, back up save files off the Switch, and access most of the Switch 2’s peripherals through MMIO. To my knowledge, it’s the first such exploit for the Switch 2. To demonstrate the capabilities of this jailbreak, Codex modded a Switch 2 exclusive, Mario Kart World.”

“This lets us run homebrew, reverse engineer and mod Switch 2 games, back up save files off the Switch, and access most of the Switch 2’s peripherals through MMIO. To my knowledge, it’s the first such exploit for the Switch 2. To demonstrate the capabilities of this jailbreak, Codex modded a Switch 2 exclusive, Mario Kart World.”

As this is a “software-only” exploit, it means the minute the Switch 2 is turned off, you’re back at square one.

Apart from delisting SmileBASIC, Nintendo hasn’t officially responded to this exploit, but the creator behind this jailbreak says they’re “excited to see all the upcoming Switch 2 homebrew, emulation, and modding”.

This isn’t the first time something like this has been discovered, either. SmileBASIC was also used for homebrew exploits during the 3DS generation.

If we hear any significant developments or updates about this latest jailbreak, we’ll let you know.