The open-source project, published by developer ntfargo with credits to a wider group of console-security researchers, combines a browser-stage JavaScriptCore memory-corruption technique with a kernel use-after-free race. Its documentation says the chain establishes kernel read-and-write capability, a powerful level of access that can support homebrew software and security research on affected machines.
Relapse’s first stage operates through the PS5 browser environment. The developers describe JavaScriptCore information leaks and a mismatch involving a structured-clone object pool that is used to corrupt a typed array. That browser compromise provides the foothold needed to proceed to the more privileged kernel stage.
The second stage uses an address leak together with a race involving an aiomultiwait use-after-free flaw. Successful exploitation produces kernel read/write primitives, enabling the chain to move beyond browser code execution and interact with protected areas of the console’s operating system.
The project supports firmware versions from 7.00 to 13.60, according to its repository. Independent demonstrations and user testing have also shown the jailbreak operating across that range, although reliability varies. Firmware 14.00, which Sony released on September 16, is not listed as vulnerable, sharply limiting the relevance of Relapse for consoles already updated to that version.
Relapse is a tethered jailbreak rather than a permanent modification. Its effects are lost when the console restarts, requiring the exploit chain to be run again. That distinction also means publication of the chain does not amount to a persistent compromise of every vulnerable PS5; exploitation requires deliberate execution on a compatible system.
The developers warn that stability is imperfect. The browser component can require repeated attempts if the page stalls, while the kernel exploit can hang or trigger a kernel panic that forces a reboot. Reports from testers using firmware 13.60 have likewise described crashes or hangs during the kernel stage, underscoring that public availability does not make the chain uniformly reliable.
After a successful run, the published implementation can start an ELF loader, allowing compatible executable payloads to be delivered to the console. Such access is useful to developers experimenting with homebrew applications, debugging tools and other research software. The repository explicitly describes the project as intended for educational and security-research purposes and says it does not endorse piracy, unauthorised access or misuse of commercial devices.
The release is significant because it brings a public exploit chain to firmware substantially newer than versions covered by many earlier PS5 jailbreak methods. It also includes the PS5 Pro within the stated compatibility range, extending the affected hardware beyond the original PS5 models, provided the machine is running supported system software.
Kernel access nevertheless does not remove every security boundary on the PS5. Sony’s console architecture includes additional protections, and the capabilities available after a kernel jailbreak depend on the firmware, payloads and other security mechanisms involved. Relapse therefore should not be treated as equivalent to unrestricted control over every layer of the platform.
Sony routinely distributes system-software updates that address security and stability issues, and users who maintain current firmware are outside the range identified by the Relapse developers. The company’s public update information for version 14.00 describes broader system changes, while the Relapse project itself simply identifies 13.60 as the upper supported release rather than claiming exploitation of 14.00.
The code is available under an open-source licence, giving security researchers the ability to inspect the implementation and reproduce its findings. Publication also makes the underlying techniques visible to defenders studying how browser memory corruption can be chained with a kernel lifetime-management flaw to cross privilege boundaries.
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