Why I Built a PS5 Jailbreak Monitor
I don't own a jailbroken PS5. I don't run homebrew on consoles. But I do run monitoring systems for things that change unpredictably, and the PS5 jailbreak scene is a perfect example of that.
The problem is simple: Sony pushes firmware updates that close exploit windows. The community finds new vulnerabilities. There's a narrow time between discovery and patching where specific firmware versions become valuable. If you're running a jailbroken console or planning to acquire one, missing that window means waiting months or longer.
I wanted a system that would watch for these changes automatically and alert me when something shifted. Not because I needed it immediately, but because building monitoring tools for rapidly changing technical ecosystems is something I actually do.
What I Actually Monitor
The core of this is a bash script running on one of my Proxmox VMs. It checks a few GitHub repositories where jailbreak developers publish their work. Specifically:
- Repository commit logs for new releases
- README changes that indicate supported firmware versions
- Release tags that signal stable exploit chains
I'm not scraping random forums or Discord servers. I'm watching public repos where the actual code lives. The script pulls metadata, compares it to the last known state, and flags differences.
The data I care about:
- Supported firmware versions (e.g., 3.xx-7.61)
- Exploit method changes (BD-J, WebKit, kernel exploits)
- New payload releases (etaHEN updates, elf loaders)
- Removal of support for older firmware
I don't track every fork or experimental branch. Just the main repos that ship working exploits.
The Bash Script Setup
The script runs every 6 hours via cron. It's not real-time because these changes don't happen that fast. Daily would probably be fine, but 6 hours feels right for something that could theoretically matter within 24 hours.
Here's the core logic I use:
#!/bin/bash
REPO_URL="https://api.github.com/repos/Viktorious-x/ps5-bdjb-modified-ISOs"
STATE_FILE="/var/log/ps5-monitor/last_commit.txt"
ALERT_SCRIPT="/usr/local/bin/send_alert.sh"
# Fetch latest commit SHA
LATEST_COMMIT=$(curl -s "$REPO_URL/commits/main" | jq -r '.sha')
# Compare with stored state
if [ -f "$STATE_FILE" ]; then
LAST_COMMIT=$(cat "$STATE_FILE")
if [ "$LATEST_COMMIT" != "$LAST_COMMIT" ]; then
# Fetch commit message and changed files
COMMIT_MSG=$(curl -s "$REPO_URL/commits/$LATEST_COMMIT" | jq -r '.commit.message')
CHANGED_FILES=$(curl -s "$REPO_URL/commits/$LATEST_COMMIT" | jq -r '.files[].filename')
# Check if changes are relevant
if echo "$CHANGED_FILES" | grep -qE '(README|etaHEN|pipeline|firmware)'; then
$ALERT_SCRIPT "PS5 Jailbreak Update" "$COMMIT_MSG"
fi
echo "$LATEST_COMMIT" > "$STATE_FILE"
fi
else
echo "$LATEST_COMMIT" > "$STATE_FILE"
fi
This is simplified, but it's the actual approach. I use jq to parse GitHub's JSON API responses. The state file stores the last commit SHA I've seen. If it changes, I pull the commit message and file list to see if it's worth alerting on.
The grep pattern filters for keywords that matter: README updates (usually firmware version changes), etaHEN updates (the main exploit payload), pipeline changes (exploit chain modifications), or explicit firmware mentions.
Alert Delivery
I send alerts through ntfy, a self-hosted notification service I already run. The send_alert.sh script is just a curl wrapper:
#!/bin/bash
TOPIC="ps5-jailbreak"
NTFY_SERVER="https://ntfy.mydomain.com"
TITLE="$1"
MESSAGE="$2"
curl -H "Title: $TITLE" -d "$MESSAGE" "$NTFY_SERVER/$TOPIC"
I get notifications on my phone via the ntfy app. No email, no Slack, no third-party services. Just a simple HTTP POST to my own server.
What I Don't Monitor
I deliberately ignore:
- Beta releases or experimental ISOs
- Community Discord chatter
- YouTube tutorial uploads
- Social media speculation
These sources are noisy and unreliable. The GitHub repos I watch are where actual working code gets published. If something significant happens, it shows up there first.
Limitations and Trade-offs
This system only works because the PS5 jailbreak scene uses GitHub as its primary distribution method. If developers moved to private channels or encrypted releases, this approach would fail.
The script also can't detect firmware patches from Sony. I'm only watching the exploit side. If Sony releases a new firmware that closes a vulnerability, I won't know unless the jailbreak devs update their documentation to reflect it.
There's also a window between when Sony patches something and when the community confirms it. My alerts would lag behind that reality.
Finally, this doesn't help if you're already on a firmware version that's too new. It's a monitoring tool, not a time machine.
Why This Approach Works for Me
I'm not deeply embedded in the PS5 scene. I don't check these repos manually. But I do run systems that need to react to external changes, and this is a good example of that pattern.
The bash script is simple enough that I can modify it in 5 minutes if the repo structure changes. It runs in a VM that already handles other monitoring tasks. The alerts go through infrastructure I already maintain.
If I ever decide to acquire a jailbroken PS5, I'll know when the exploit landscape shifts. If I don't, the script costs me nothing to keep running.
Key Takeaways
- Monitor the source, not the commentary. GitHub repos are where working exploits live.
- Simple bash scripts with curl and jq are enough for API monitoring.
- State files prevent duplicate alerts and make change detection trivial.
- Self-hosted notification systems (like ntfy) keep alerts private and reliable.
- 6-hour polling is sufficient for changes that happen over days or weeks.
This isn't a comprehensive jailbreak tracking system. It's a narrow tool that watches specific repos for specific changes. But it does what I need without manual intervention, and that's the point.
