Sony pulls another exploited game from PSN
7After the events that transpired last year, Sony can hardly be blamed for taking hackers more seriously. The company recently pulled two games from the PlayStation Store for their vulnerability to hacker Wololo's Vita exploit, the Vita Half-Byte Loader (VHBL) which allows unsigned code (aka homebrew) to run inside the PSP emulator. A new game has been discovered that is vulnerable to the exploit, Super Collapse 3, and in less than 24 hours after being published on Wololo's blog Sony has pulled the game from the PS Store in the USA and various parts of Europe.
This is indicative of Sony's newfound dedication to preserving the integrity of the PSN, and subsequently the Vita. Wololo has stated from the very beginning that the VHBL cannot be used for piracy because the exploit only enables unsigned code to run in "user mode" rather than at the root permission level required to launch games. This takes place within the PSP emulator, which is restricted to 32MB of RAM and is itself sandboxed away from the Vita operating system. The VHBL has only ever been capable of launching homebrew like emulators and games, but Sony's swift response in pulling titles with the vulnerability sends a clear message to would-be developers — apply for the $99 Playstation Suite developer program or stay out.
- SourceWololo
