After years of anticipation and excitement, the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here. And with the unprecedented level of demand in the gaming industry, stocks of these consoles are literally flying off the shelves.
Nintendo has always had a strong stance against other people jailbreaking their consoles, so much so that they tend to take legal actions against anyone even tinkering with it. Through the years, the video game company has rolled out patches and secured its consoles so that players don’t get root access.
But just one day after the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, one person found out an exploit that can potentially bring a lot of changes to the new Switch consoles. Let’s delve deeper into this and find out more about it.
The first breach of Nintendo Switch 2’s security system
Nintendo Switch 2 is the next evolution of the original Nintendo Switch, which was released back in March 2017, and almost a decade later, the video game company decided it was time for something new. The new Switch has a variety of new features, including better computational power so that players can enjoy even high-end games, unlike the console’s predecessors.
Although the new Switch 2 is supposed to be more secure and immune to jailbreaks, one user by the name of David Buchanan (retr0.id) has already found an exploit that successfully runs a framebuffer graphics demo on his Nintendo Switch 2. He shared the video on BlueSky, deeming that he cannot prove that he is not playing a video from YouTube.
here’s a framebuffer graphics demo (this has no practical purpose and I can’t prove I’m not just like, playing a youtube video or something)
— David Buchanan (@retr0.id) 5 June 2025 at 21:56
According to Buchanan, he got the framebuffer graphics demo running via a Return-Oriented-Programming (ROP) exploit, which does not involve native code execution. In this context, Buchanan used the userland, which refers to code that runs outside the kernel and doesn’t have full system privileges or direct hardware access.
The exploit relies on manipulating the system libraries of the console to bypass normal restrictions and execute code in a sandbox environment. While this has no practical usage, as of now, fellow modders and seasoned developers were quick to confirm that this is legit and Nintendo will soon patch this out as well.
This exploit might not be an immediate threat
While the exploit might not have any practical, real-world application just yet, the exploit’s very existence is making waves in the gaming and modding world. For a person to identify and demonstrate a vulnerability on a device that has just hit the market raises some serious concerns about the long-term security of these consoles.
Nintendo has always doubled down and taken a hardline approach when it comes to breaches like these. The video game company is known for its legal crackdowns and rapid firmware updates. But this won’t stop the modding community from trying to find a vulnerability any way they can.
Now, the only question that remains is whether Nintendo will issue a silent firmware update to fix the vulnerability and harden their system, or will the modding community finally find a good use for the exploit.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
