Xbox 360 Backup Discs Bootable

An anonymous reader writes "The firmware of the Xbox 360 DVD drive has been hacked, allowing users to boot backups of games on the new Microsoft console. A group of hackers on the xboxhacker.net forum managed to trick the DVD firmware into reporting a recordable disc as an original Xbox 360 disc. This means that it will not allow booting of unsigned homebrew code (like Linux), as the signature check is not bypassed. This hack will just trick the Xbox 360 into thinking you inserted an original Xbox 360 disc, so it'll only boot unedited executables. A video has been released, the hack has not been released to the public (because it will be mainly used for piracy), but all the research of the last few months is publicly viewable."

Comments

firmware check on new games?

[Brit_in_the_USA]

how long until a game is released that checksums the DVD firmware and "updates it" to soemthing more secure?

( + reporting to MS Live if you have a hacked verison and cancelling your account? ala Blizzard?)

Ability to boot non-Microsoft code more useful

[Animats]

This is the "piracy" hack. A way to cleanly boot non-Microsoft content would be more useful. Microsoft probably couldn't do much about that legally; if you own the unit, you have no obligation to play only approved content.

Surprised it took this long

[ryants]

Frankly I'm surprised it took this long, given that the Xbox 360 will boot burned CDs/DVDs for backwards compatibility updates.

I always thought that was a pretty good area of attack right there.

Re:Surprised it took this long

[cnettel]

Well, it doesn't help that much, as it's the signature that determines how a valid image may be started (and no commercial game will say "burned booting OK"). Now, all software written by MS really "sees" the disc as a real DVD, completely independent of whether booting from burned DVDs is supported or not. The only way to block this would be to block flashing DVD firmware (wise) or blocking reading burned discs in hardware. The latter would of course make it less usable for playing CDs or video in more or less legitimate ways that MS still wants to support.

Citations

[OpenSourced]

From the post:
the hack has not been released to the public

From Jane Austen's "Emma":
'It's to be a secret, I conclude,' said he. These matters are always a secret, till it is found out that everybody knows them. Only let me be told when I may speak out.'"

One small step

[Enselic]

I remember hackers speaking of how easy hacking the Xbox 360 will be, that it will only take hours once it is released.

Now, 4 months after the release, they manage to hack a disc. Microsoft sure has given them a challenge this time.

LOL

[bogie]

"the hack has not been released to the public (because it will be mainly used for piracy)"

Then why did they bother? Testing XP or linux to see if its security is working is one thing. That has real world consequences. Testing it is a noble cause IMHO. Hacking the firmware of a gaming system make get done to "boot linux" but we all know the real world implication here. I don't frown on this morally one bit but let's not kid ourselves here. Information may want to be free, but people want free games even more.