Wii Internet Connection Reverse Engineered

AlexTheBeast writes "By packet sniffing his Wi-Fi connection, this hacker has already begun to dig into the internet interactions of the new Nintendo Wii. Basically, by using Firefox and after setting the user agent correctly, anybody can easily browse many WiiShop pages including the WiiShop main page and startup manual. More advanced connections including binary and virtual console downloads are currently in the works. Come join the project."

Comments

That's what happens...

[tttonyyy]

..when developers play with their Wii.

(Sorry, couldn't resist YAWJ (Yet Another Wii Joke))

So ... What's next

[HappySqurriel]

So ... what's next?

Will we be getting a news story about a Hacker who had installed the Wiis web-browser on his PC by going to http://www.opera.com/ ?

Re:So ... What's next

[cloricus]

I was thinking that... Seriously today at work I sat in front of ethereal for two hours sniffing packets for regular network reports and just for general knowledge of what's going on and god knows what I saw go past. It isn't at all skillful to sniff out of a agent string and use a Firefox plugin to put in what ever you want - heck if you want to be 'uber leet' you can code your own agent string into Firefox! How awesome!

So in summery this isn't even remotely interesting. Go home script kiddies...and by home I mean digg! (Yes I do have the karma to burn.)

...Still four weeks till we get Wii's in Australia. :(

Re:So ... What's next

[SausageOfDoom]

Well, seeing as this shows that the channels are web-based, I would imagine that one possible next step would be to hijack the connection when it reaches your router, and then, depending on the page request, return your own content.

I'm guessing this would allow you to create custom channels by returning whatever content you wanted to the Wii. Perhaps it might also bypassing the need to buy Opera, as it sounds like it's already built in.

Already Locked Down

[A Brand of Fire]

Apparently Nintendo has caught wind of this and has already set up redirects to the Wii root website from these links.

Correction

[A Brand of Fire]

It seems that it redirects with links referred from other websites. After putting in the URL manually, I was able to view the pages. Pretty cool stuff.

Re:Correction

[tttonyyy]

Given the number of consoles Nintendo must be anticipating serving those pages to, I'd expect them to be pretty much unslashdottable. A few people from slashdot? T'is but a scratch!

Roms! \o/

[remembertomorrow]

Once the Virtual Arcade system has been worked out, someone will put up a custom server where you can download the games for 0 points. All you'll have to do is point wii.com (or whichever A/AAA records are needed) to their server.

It seems like this system will be hacked rather easily. :/

Re:Roms! \o/

[HappySqurriel]

Once the Virtual Arcade system has been worked out, someone will put up a custom server where you can download the games for 0 points. All you'll have to do is point wii.com (or whichever A/AAA records are needed) to their server.

It seems like this system will be hacked rather easily. :/

Well, being that Nintendo is not stupid I suspect that ever virtual console game is signed to prevent copying; on top of that (being that each game is only usable on one particular system) it is possible that Nintendo signs the signed code for each console when you buy a game. Now, unless the system is physically cracked, I think that it is nearly impossible to break this system.

Squid proxy = Homebrew injection

[palad1]

Good news everyone!
By setting-up a squid proxy one could be able to make homebrews appear as games requiring 0 wii points before being sent to the wii, which will gladly accept it as a runnable executable!

Now we just have to reverse engineer the 'Virtual Game Console'. 100 say it will turn-out to be a Mame clone.

Can't wait till the Wii gets released in Europe. Oh my :)

Besides, we may even be able to stream a divx player using this technique.

Re:Squid proxy = Homebrew injection

[geekboy_x]

You dont need that - the Wii Opera browser can hit normal web pages just fine, so flash-based homebrews can just be served off regular ol' pages, like this:

http://wiicade.com/Home.aspx

Have fun!

Am I the only one who is impressed by.....

[8127972]

..... the fact that this doesn't look like some sort of custom solution that would be forever tied to the hardware. Instead it seems to be very "off the shelf" in nature from what I can see. I'm impressed that Nintendo would go that route. Many companies wouldn't.

Welcome to the New Console Hack-fest

[SalaciousPucker]

Microsoft is really the only console maker that has ventured online in any substantial way. They locked down their hardware and sealed off the wild wild internet (no IE on the 360) for good reason.

I really think the Wii and/or the PS3 are going to be hacked to death. They have browsers, neither are experienced here and with Sony in particular, the whole thing seems kinda....rushed(?). I mean, with the media they are fine - people won't be burning blu-ray cheap enough soon enough. One click pirated downloads would be even worse though...it would be much easier. Given the cost & market for the PS3, a hack like this would be instant death for developer support.

Re:Welcome to the New Console Hack-fest

[iapetus]

Yes. With potential security holes like this, I doubt it'll be long before we see some sort of crazy hack to run Linux on the PS3. Wouldn't that be great?

Re:Welcome to the New Console Hack-fest

[FroBugg]

Is this really such a terrible thing for the Wii?

Sure, some people may end up downloading pirated games instead of buying them from Nintendo, but as iTunes shows, people are perfectly willing to pay reasonable prices for things they can get free elsewhere.

And since the Wii hardware itself is actually profitable for Nintendo (as opposed to the PS3), they're still going to make money from people who buy a Wii with no intention of ever buying a legit Virtual Console game or even a real Wii game. And maybe once these hackers have a Wii they'll buy some games after all.

DNS redirection

[AsnFkr]

Using DNS redirection you can get the Wii to any website you wish. Video

DMCA violation...?

[__aaclcg7560]

Isn't reverse engineering the Wii packets to figure out the proper browser user string a DMCA violation?

Re:DMCA violation...?

[Midnight Thunder]

Isn't reverse engineering the Wii packets to figure out the proper browser user string a DMCA violation?

Depends. Reverse engineering is not a violation, but cracking encryption is.

Note I haven't ever read the DMCA, so am I am relying on what I have heard on forums and new sites.

It's actually a very good name.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wii was a very good name to choose, just because of how much it sounds like a pet name for the penis.

Here in Finland there used to be a brand of chocolate milk called Jukiuilla. That sounds very, very close to a word which translates best to English as "bloody assrape".

People remembered that brand of milk. It became a hit sensation among teens just because of its name. While other chocolate milks had more benign names, that chocolate milk had a name that stood out. I think Nintendo has managed, intentionally or not, to do the same thing.

Re:It's actually a very good name.

[somersault]

Wow.. interesting why anyone would want to think about pounded crap while drinking chocolate milk :s Yuck

Re:It's actually a very good name.

[eln]

The Finns have a word for "bloody assrape"? I'm suddenly afraid to go to Finland.

Re:why does this even work?

[Yosho]

You appear to be under the misconception that the Wii is produced by Microsoft. It's not. It was created by Nintendo. Unlike Microsoft, they're not obsessed with encrypting everything under the sun. Why would they care if somebody figures out their network protocol?

How to setup for this (simple way)

[zepo1a]

This is for FF 1.5 (yeah lame..haven't updated yet, I assume will work for 2.0)
type
about:config
in FF Address bar
right click in window. New->String
use
general.useragent.override
for preferemce name, click ok
use
Opera/9.00 (Nintendo Wii; U; ; 1038-58; Wii Shop Channel/1.0; en)
as string value. click OK. you should now be able to hit the site without a redirect to wii.com

Re:Bad smell

[MyDixieWrecked]

well, I've been playing with my wii so much, my arm is sore

in fact, all my muscles are stiff. I'm in such bad shape, my wii makes me stiff.

Re:Bad smell

[inKubus]

I'm in such bad shape, my wii makes me stiff.

I can't decide if this is a Soviet Russia joke in disguise...

Piss 3

[tepples]

In the UK, wee is the "pet" name for piss.

So what does that make the Piss-3?