Microsoft silently patches Xbox 360

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 6th March 2007
Comments (17) Stumble
"Linux is bad, mmm'kay?" - Xbox 360 owners have had their machines quietly patched to prevent "tampering."

"Linux is bad, mmm'kay?" - Xbox 360 owners have had their machines quietly patched to prevent "tampering."

When you're hunting, it's important to remember the US Naval submarine cliche of "Run silent, run deep." Particularly when you're hunting pesky bugs. At least, that's what Microsoft says - both in the motto and in that it really is hunting bugs. A quiet little patch was released recently for the Xbox 360 - but it may not do what you think.

The patch was released via Xbox Live as an "OS Update" that lacked a whole lot of further description. What wasn't in that description was the primary cause of the update - to seal up a hole in the tamper protection that could allow "harmful or malicious code" to run on your 360. So far, it all sounds above-board.

What hasn't been discussed is that the "harmful or malicious" code would have to be installed by someone with physical access to the device. In other words, this "harmful or malicious" code is homebrew code. The patch is meant to seal up a potential opening where someone could install Linux or otherwise alter the default OS.

Of course, you can't really blame Microsoft for wanting to protect its investment. The "mod" scene for the original Xbox may have sold a lot of units, but it helped to damage game sales with rampant piracy. Reverse-engineering the OS led to understanding the chips and the eventual creation of the famous mod chip for pirated games. Others used the unit for a cheap Linux box - but none of the mods actually helped sell the only thing that made the company any money: legitimately purchased games.

With that in mind, it's no wonder that MS is a little eager to seal up any potential holes that have been found, particularly since this one has been discussed since early November of 2006. What's questionable is the silent and undisclosed patch to seal the vulnerability - not only was the online update completely sans specifics about the fix being included, but games made after February 20th will ship with the update piggybacked to them.

Have you got a thought on the fix? Is it just Microsoft protecting its investment, or is the sneaky roll-out not a tolerable thing? Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
Apple Products at Misco
Quote DougEdey 6th March 2007, 08:35
They need to decrease their faulty unit rates first.
Quote Bindibadgi 6th March 2007, 09:12
I need to find out if the patch bricks consoles that have been firmware modded or not, for a.. uhh.. friend.
Quote mad4it 6th March 2007, 09:26
Since i have a modded xbox and own a someday to be modded 360 i tend to follow this news and information quite closley.
The huge thing about this is this update blew an efuse (wiki it) which actually prevents you from downgrading (which can be done but is insainly hard desoldering soldering and flashing and all kinds of fidley stuff) no one knew why they prevented the downgrade untill now. But the good news is that now there is an in (many MANY people refuse to update for this very reason) they can do some poking about that can hopefully create a 100% working softmod or to a lesser extent chip (dont like chips dont ask me why). then the real fun begins.

but the sad truth is that softmods will probably mean no more live for that console (which wasnt really true of the xbox if you were carefull) so it means most people who love live (which i do) but also love homebrew (XBMC ***) will end up having to buy a second 360.

/me looks for an extra $400

EDIT:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
I need to find out if the patch bricks consoles that have been firmware modded or not, for a.. uhh.. friend.

As far as im aware it dosent effect the firmware mods at all but just to be carefull reflash to stock before update then reflash with the latest firmware once ya done

EDIT 2:
AAhhh just noticed XBMC ***(For The Win) gets censored out. just why?
Quote BioSniper 6th March 2007, 10:15
Yeah, the sole reason I had a modded XBOX was for XBMC, its a shame that this update didn't actually add something great, like divx support or something. Ahh well, it's kind of like the PSP patches at the end of the day.
Quote Swafeman 6th March 2007, 12:12
If people dont connect their Xbox 360 to live, dont get the update, dont play any updated games, surely the exploit could be found as theyve pretty much implied that their is a hole in the currect version.

Obviously it wouldnt work on updated ones but it would be a start, I'd love a 1080p XMBC :D
Quote DougEdey 6th March 2007, 12:20
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swafeman

Obviously it wouldnt work on updated ones but it would be a start, I'd love a 1080p XMBC :D

I have that already
Quote mad4it 6th March 2007, 12:47
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougEdey
I have that already

Yeah xbox can output hi def (not many people realise that tho only 1080i or maybe 720p i beleive) however you try decoding a hidef video file using the original xbox itll chug like crazy

a few things people dont know

1. Theres already homebrew created (done on dev kits) thats not available
2. I beleive only 1 core has been compramised (dont ask me how or why but what i heared)
3. X360MC ***!
Quote DougEdey 6th March 2007, 12:51
720p runs fine on my xbox, using the new mplayer code. And I have an upscaler which takes it to 1080p fine.
Quote mad4it 6th March 2007, 13:11
i wont beleive it till i do it myself and that wont happen till i gets me a HD tv
Quote randosome 6th March 2007, 17:36
/sigh

what is the point, Custom firmware just generally increases sales IMO - what happens when your XBox rips up the CD, or it just gets worn - they will want you to pay full price all over again
Of course if you can mod it you can take a backup (which should really be an enforced right)

Also you can run your own stuff on it, i mean MS still don't have to support it, but they don't have to forcibly attempt to stop you from doing it
Quote pendragon 6th March 2007, 18:18
sounds like microsoft protecting its investment to me [shrugs]
Quote Woodstock 6th March 2007, 18:55
Quote:
Microsoft silently patches Xbox 360

maybe not so silently
Quote MrBurritoMan 6th March 2007, 21:16
yeah it sounds like microsoft has every right to run this patch and fix things up however sneaky it may have been. i still think that windows genuine advantage is completely justified however that is another discussion. good for microsoft for having the balls to take this bull by the horns. even with this change i am still thinking about buying a 360.
Quote DXR_13KE 6th March 2007, 22:14
just another PSP firmware update lookalike.
Quote inflatable 9th March 2007, 16:16
I don't see what's so questionable about it? Do they have to announce stuff like this or something?? That would just be stupid imho, to warn to people you wanna get.. And aslong as it doesn't do anything bad if you have a 100% legal non-modded Xbox 360 I don't see what the problem is.. If you modded your Xbox 360 and have the guts to still connect to Xbox Live imho you're asking for trouble, because you know MS will try to do stuff like this to fight mods etc.. As I said, aslong as it doesn't affect my 100% legal Xbox 360 I don't care.. If you don't want MS to mess with your modded Xbox 360 don't connect to Xbox Live, it's that simple..
Quote MrBurritoMan 9th March 2007, 22:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by inflatable
I don't see what's so questionable about it? Do they have to announce stuff like this or something?? That would just be stupid imho, to warn to people you wanna get.. And aslong as it doesn't do anything bad if you have a 100% legal non-modded Xbox 360 I don't see what the problem is.. If you modded your Xbox 360 and have the guts to still connect to Xbox Live imho you're asking for trouble, because you know MS will try to do stuff like this to fight mods etc.. As I said, aslong as it doesn't affect my 100% legal Xbox 360 I don't care.. If you don't want MS to mess with your modded Xbox 360 don't connect to Xbox Live, it's that simple..

this man speaks the truth! i can honestly say that this update does not impact my seeking an 360.

if all you guys who want to run "backup" games are scared that this update might kill your fun the maybe you should get legit versions.
Quote CollinstheClown 9th March 2007, 23:10
/\ I have legit versions and can produce evidence. It's just security on rather expensive games...

The patch has nothing to do with the firmware mods, and as far as I know, Microsoft has no way to see the mods.

From Xbox-Scene:
Quote:

Microsoft has quietly released a fix for a security vulnerability that could let Xbox 360 owners run their own applications or operating systems on the console.

The update corrects a problem with a tamper protection mechanism on the Xbox 360. Hackers had discovered a way to break through the shield and run their own software, including operating systems such as Linux, on the Microsoft game console.

Microsoft confirmed the issue on Friday. "Microsoft has worked with the party that reported this issue and has already distributed a fix across our distribution methods, both online and offline," a company representative said in an e-mailed statement.

The update was pushed out via Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service. Any game coming out after February 20 will ship with the fix, which is also available for download on the Xbox Web site, the representative said.

And for father info regarding the hack:
http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEZkykVkkFmojzapEq.php




-CollinstheClown
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