Hackers find a way to jailbreak Nintendo Switch

Hackers have found a way into the Nintendo Switch, possibly giving those with a high level of technical knowledge a way to run pirated games on the portable console.

The hack was publicized Tuesday and can turn the Switch into a tablet that can run pirated programs and grant hackers far greater control over the system than Nintendo intended. The weak point in the console is a problem with its processor chip, the Tegra X1 from Nvidia.

This chip, essentially the brains of the device, is also used in some Android phones. A hacking group called fail0verflow, said in a blog post that it had informed Google about the vulnerability and promised to wait 90 days to disclose it to give Google a chance to examine it. Nintendo, Nvidia and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Because the flaw is a hardware problem, it will be very difficult for Nintendo to fix the issue remotely by sending updates to people over the Internet. Instead, it may be a flaw that can only be changed for future consoles.

The hack is complicated and requires confidence programming skills and a willingness to possibly destroy the Switch in the process, if something goes wrong. Part of the process requires would-be hackers to insert a wire into the Switch’s right controller to short out the system.