Hackers Find Nintendo Switch 2 Exploit Day After Launch — Enables Minor Hack for Running Custom Code

Sure thing, here we go:

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So, here’s a wild one: somebody’s already poked around and found a glitch in the brand-spankin’ new Nintendo Switch 2. This guy, David Buchanan—I mean, who really knows what he does in his spare time—on Bluesky, of all places, stumbled onto this little treasure. Apparently, there’s this thing, like a loophole, in the console’s shared library. Now, why do I care about libraries when I don’t even read? No clue, but it caught my eye.

Anyway, it’s something called a userland Return-Oriented Programming exploit. Sounds like a mouthful, right? Basically, it’s like he’s twisting the program’s arm by rewriting where it goes back to—kinda like rerouting your GPS to a mystery spot. So, what’s the point? Well, it makes the system do funky stuff, like show off some checkerboard graphics. Cool party trick, maybe?

There was a picture, I think, with some tech-y wheels turning. More about that later.

So, yeah, it’s just a surface-level hack, doesn’t dig deep into the Switch 2’s guts. No root access, nothing groundbreaking. Buchanan himself practically shrugged, saying it doesn’t really unleash any secret powers, and he couldn’t even prove it wasn’t all just smoke and mirrors—a YouTube mirage, maybe. Some tech folks backed him up, so there’s that.

Nintendo’s not exactly the chillest when you mess with their toys. They’ve got that whole “play by the rules or else” vibe. Heard they’d even fry your console if you step out of line—scary, huh? Their agreement’s full of no-nos about mucking with software, too. I don’t know, kinda feels like what your mom says about cleaning up your room, but digital.

Now, will someone outsmart the system completely? Who knows? Could be a while. Might even be years before anyone cracks open the code for real, makes stuff from scratch—some homebrew operating system or whatever. Then we’ll see how Nintendo reacts. Popcorn ready?

Catch you on the flip side! Oh, and yeah, follow Tom’s Hardware to get more, uh, brain food. Or whatever.