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Fusée Gelée FAQ by Kate Temkin

http://www.ktemkin.com/faq-fusee-gelee/

Kate has collected and answered the most common questions she's gotten regarding Fusée Gelée. Most notably she explains the three "types" of FG hacks, software, hardware (temporary) and hardware (permanent).

Enjoy!

Kate herself responded to this thread on page 26, thanks Kate!

There's a lot more here than I can easily respond to, so apologies if I miss posts or gloss over points.



This is correct-- while there likely will be software chains around for these things in the future, I don't see them as coming along as quickly as f-g. We don't have a non-coldboot exploit chain at all for 5.0.0-- and we haven't looked yet, as we've had other things to focus on and coldboot works. We do have one for 4.1.0, but it's centered around a couple of exploits that we don't want to burn-- we're hoping to use them to get an opportunity to poke around inside T214/Mariko.



I don't view you as particularly hostile, no. I don't know if challenge is generally a good thing-- sometimes you do have to accept that other people have different ethics or viewpoints from yourself and let that pass, especially if they're just doing stuff for fun-- but I don't view your post as hostile.



Jamais Vu (1.0.0 TrustZone hack) isn't my bug, but has been written up, and is just awaiting someone with the skills to have time to do a public interpretation. Déjà Vu is currently centered around the exploit I mentioned above, and we definitely want to hold onto that for as long as it's applicable. It's entirely a Switch bug, too, so I don't see it as being something that needs responsible disclosure.



For Déjà Vu, absolutely. (explained in last quote)



I don't agree that things like tweeting are ego. This is something I work on because I find it a lot of fun to hack on things, and there's definitely an aspect in which it makes me happy when seeing the results of things makes other people happy. There's also an aspect in which I hope that showing these things are possible inspires people to want to learn e.g. reverse engineering. This stuff is cool; and I want to share the excitement with others and lift them up as much as I can.

You don't have to believe me on that or like that that's my goal. I won't hold it against you if you don't. :)



I honestly support people updating when it makes sense; and I recognize that there's a conflict between holding back information and enabling others to make reasonable decisions about that. I don't like or feel good about secrecy, and I know it has implications. I've tried to be as clear as I can about the costs regarding updating without crossing the line into giving things away.



I think we've been pretty clear that 4.1.0 will eventually see a non-coldboot, software-only exploit with the same level of power. That's actually been posted on the ReSwitched Discord's FAQ for months, but I know the message gets skewed as its gets communicated over to other places. That's part of why I'm here, now-- I want to help clear things up.

The interactions between the operating system and the bootloader-- say on reboot-- are actually fairly limited; and knowing what any of them are is enough to point people at the particular section of bootrom that's vulnerable. That's why I'm not commenting on Fusée Gelée and how it relates to software-only solutions right now. I have said e.g. above that since there's no public way of getting the privileges necessary to run things, 4.1.0 isn't going to see a pure software solution that the public can use at the time that f-g is released. Software exploits will likely come in time; and it's possible we'll come up with things that are even easier than f-g.



I'm not sure if they'll take it seriously enough. I don't know how they are internally-- but I can't just assume they'll fail to do anything and skip disclosure. Honestly, I don't think a "security advisory" is really a bad thing, either-- there are definitely applications of Tegra chips that I and/or the public don't know about. If giving NVIDIA notice gives them time to explain exactly what's dangerous and allow their customers to remove and replace units from places where the vulnerability can cause harm, I consider that a win, and well worth delaying some public switch hacks by a few months.

I'll also say that my fear that vendors won't take the vulnerability seriously is a huge reason I'm so keen to get things out there-- and why I provided a date after which I'll tell the public what's going on that I've said was non-negotiable. I want to make sure this doesn't get hidden, and that people understand exactly what f-g can and can't accomplish, to minimize FUD while also letting people understand the actual risks are associated with using a vulnerable device.



It changes this from an exploit that's going to be usable before the affected people know it's a thing to something that people may have a chance to react to. Making the vulnerability public without disclosure really increases the odds someone is capable of using it to do bad.

I didn't really give NVIDIA a chance to sell-off stock; though. I've said publicly multiple times that there are bugs in Tegra processors well before NVIDIA reached out to me seeking disclosure. If anything, I think telling the public that these vulnerabilities exist while pursuing disclosure helps developers interested in using Tegra chips in the future ask the right question.



I've already said that while pure-software stuff is doable on 4.1.0; it'll be a wait. As far as I'm remembering, the only part of the chain that could require multiple tries to work is PegaSwitch, which is our browser-based entry point, and I haven't even tried the browser entry point that'll eventually be public to see how reliable it is. SciresM did the work to get our non-coldboot exploit working on 4.1.0; not me. :)



Yeah, that's hard-- especially as everyone has a different view as to how inconvenient things are. I don't know of a way to communicate this better without more details.

Incidentally, the 'inconvenience' verbiage came from SciresM and I discussing our respective views on updating. I think SciresM is more towards the opinion that people should hold back more often, where I'm more of the opinion that updating can be a good and reasonable option sometimes. The way we wound up phrasing things is a compromise between views.



(I'm going to assume this meant "on the hacking side". If not I'm not sure what hacking site you're referring to.)

Updating to latest just closes the possibility of using software exploits launched from Horizon, which can make setup more difficult. I know you'd like to know how much, but I unfortunately don't have a good way of qualifying that. As I've mentioned, if you're suffering from not being able to use your 3.0.1+ Switch, you probably do want to upgrade and just risk things being more inconvenient in the future. Worst comes to worst, if you decide you can't tolerate the inconvenience, you upgrade and then wind up having to figure out a modchip.

The downgrade protection fuses literally mean nothing to a system with f-g, which can entirely skip the downgrade check. Incidentally, SciresM actually accidentally bricked one of his systems in a way such that it was always failing the downgrade checks, and he's been able to use f-g to get that system up and running again.



I don't think that's clear at all, nor do I want to confirm or deny this. Sorry.



I think you're making a bunch of assumptions here, and that's maybe not a great idea. I'm not saying you're necessarily right or wrong; just that I don't think your assumptions are founded.



I don't think this contradicts. This is talking about vulnerabilities that aren't f-g; not because f-g doesn't work on 4.1.0, but because it's possible we may come up with vulnerabilities that are even nicer on 4.1.0 in the future.



I'm being as clear as I feel I can, and adding clarifications e.g. here where I think it helps. There will be different names for the the ways you can use f-g eventually; and I'll be fully open about everything once the summer rolls around and I'm not putting the disclosure timeline in jeopardy.



I know and have said about that this "bring your own exploit" business makes development exclusive, and that's exclusionary and I really don't like it-- I just don't see a way around it. I would love to get more developers and more perspective, and that's why my release date for f-g is tied to my disclosure timeline and not in particular to Atmosphère's release.




I've tried to point out approximately what the difficulty would be for some of the options to kind of provide this, but this is a hard thing to accomplish. In this case, providing details that are more specific really points a finger at vulnerability details, so there's not much I'm comfortable sharing. I've shared what I could-- as a data point, some of the other teams have outright stated that they think I've shared too much already and made things obvious. I don't agree or necessarily care about their opinons, but c'est la vie.



Well, this isn't the case. This has been disclosed to Nintendo, too-- as NVIDIA shares their vulnerability findings with downstream customers. It's more general malicious actors that I'd be worried about.



See above-- but I don't think I'd advise specifically updating to 4.1.0 unless that gives you enough access to the games you want.



I'm also super glad that we can do a lot of our work in the open. I hope there's a lot more of it in the future-- and I'd love to stream some of it. :)



I find the requirement disheartening as well, but I think this is the right way to do things, for now. I've explained my rationale above; feel free to ask questions.



I'm not sure why people are against communication, here. There were definite benefits to talking about f-g in the first place; including that it demonstrates that Tegra chips are vulnerable-- which hopefully influences buying decisions in the future and puts pressure on NVIDIA to seek as much of a fix as they can. After that there seemed to be definitely benefits to talking about more details, even in the limited sense that I'm able to. I've tried to give people more information than the nothing they would have had so they could have more of an idea whether it's be a good idea to e.g. pre-order a modchip or update their system. I know it can be frustrating to not get full disclosure, and that more information would help people to make a better or more conclusive decision, but full disclosure isn't an option until this summer. I don't think that's a reason to hold back information.



I don't have specific answers to your questions, unfortunately-- but I think it sounds like the main purpose of this Switch is as a gaming device and maybe you should upgrade and enjoy playing games with your son.



I don't think that asking for clarification is criticism. It might be rude to push me to answer something I said I wouldn't, but I don't think there's harm in answer.



I don't think I've said anything about opening the console or not. See above for my views on updating?



I'm not sure where you got this impression, or why you're confident about things enough to claim you know about the internal values or working of ReSwitched. This is also easily disprovable just from public information--Hedgeberg has tested out f-g on stream. I don't see it as great opsec to enumerate how many people have access to the vulnerability, but we've long had a policy of only giving exploit details to those who actually want to know them and are in a position where they can use them to help. This is a basic security precaution and not about trust.

I'm actually not sure how this is relevant to the broader discussion. Based on your post history, I can tell that you strongly support TX and the option they're providing, and you're welcome to that, but I think throwing around generic unfounded criticism of RS doesn't do much good and distracts from me answering community questions. :)



I don't think they're obviously more convenient, as they exist right now. They're both inherently however-tethered-you-consider-PegaSwitch, take a bunch of time to run, and rely on a pegaswitch entry point.



That's not correct-- everyone on a current hardware revision will be able to install and use CFW the day it's released, if they're willing to put in the effort and potentially take on some minor risk.



I'm actually not sure what you mean by this entire post? Sorry about that-- I'd love to address your ideas, but unfortunately I can't figure out your meaning. :(



That was about me having fun by trying to see if a DIY, cheap modchip option is reasonable. It turns out it is. As you've noted, it's not necessary on any firmware. I just really like the idea that the open exchange of knowledge -- especially when profit's not a motive -- can result in creation of neat options for the community. ^-^



Yep; that's exactly what it means. :)



I don't think this has been at all implied-- and you'd be hard pressed to find a way to make a solder-less Arduino option that even remotely fits in the Switch case. :)

I should also clarify that the DIY option isn't solderless. :)


If you have or are going to get the game anyway, you can. Those versions are pretty much interchangeable in the long-term. :)



Yep-- and it's possible at some point that we'll allow you to install Fake News without Puyo using f-g/Atmosphère. The original plan was to release Atmosphère for 1.0.0 first while we tried to figure out how to deal with Fusée Gelée, but we actually wound up with a disclosure schedule that was faster than we'd thought. :)
 
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TotalInsanity4

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This is exactly what I was thinking, but didn't want to get into it anymore. Saying what isn't needed is just talking to hear the sound of one's own voice and not supplying any real information at all.
I don't know that that's so much the case as they want to avoid putting any Nintendo coders on the scent. But yes, that would be nice
 

Onibi

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  • The main benefit of being on 4.1.0 is that we have more exploit chains than f-g that work for it. We can simulate a coldboot on up to 4.1 without actually having a coldboot vulnerability; we haven't spent time being able to do that on 5.x yet. I've mentioned that f-g isn't a "holy grail" exploit-- it's not something where you can press one easy button and then have your Switch boot into untrusted code forever-- but that it's still possible that we'll find one that you can accomplish using Pegaswitch on one of the firmwares we still have access to.

This also sounds like an advice to update to 4.1.0 or at least not a challenge of 4.1.0 convenience at all, which seems to contradict the statement before :(

Can you clarify what should make anybody stay low? Esp. since if it is gone on higher FWs it implies that it can be disclosed, no?

I can understand it-- I think the reality is unfortunate. If I were in a lot of people's places, I could see myself wanting to develop cool things for a system-- to contribute to Atmosphère, or to help with getting Linux or Android up and running-- but being frustrated with the "bring your own vulnerability" approach to development. It's definitely something that excludes people who have things to offer, and I don't like it; but it seems like a necessary evil.

I am working to change the 'exclusivity', where I can-- not least by trying to get the public f-g, which I hope will be a powerful development and exploration tool.

Overall very nice to hear. The gaming scenes certainly need more people that share your views. I mean @SciresM and @TuxSH are also providing the code openly. So overall, my picture of anybody that shows such openness is very good. I guess that makes the non-disclosure of the TZ exploit and the bootromhax (hehe, see) even more frustrating and not as easy to understand.

Do you have no exploit other then the bootrom (assuming you stick to the disclosure of he bootrom bug as-is) that has been fixed and thus can be released to developers? TZ?
 
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Earth4Heaven

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Thanks @ktemkin for the clarity. However, the faq on your site was clear enough. From what I read, we all just need to have patience. I don't understand the negativity you guys are receiving, but I'm also new to the scene and don't understand how it works. I thought unpaid developers, with lives, who are contributing their skills to help a scene, would be cherished. Just a lurker/outsider's perspective. Continue the good work though, and thank you.
 

Kioku

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Thanks @ktemkin for the clarity. However, the faq on your site was clear enough. From what I read, we all just need to have patience. I don't understand the negativity you guys are receiving, but I'm also new to the scene and don't understand how it works. I thought unpaid developers, with lives, who are contributing their skills to help a scene, would be cherished. Just a lurker/outsider's perspective. Continue the good work though, and thank you.

Some would prefer excruciating details every step of the way, even after an explanation as to why that's not plausible at the moment.
 

yomer

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@ktemkin I'm currently on 3.0.0, I can't afford to get another Switch, and I promised my kid to start playing Mario Odyssey(which requires at least v3.0.1) with him soon. If I update all the way to 4.1.0 and interpreting what you're saying, can I expect to be able to use the CFW just with a one time software mod, or would I have to do a specific procedure if I reboot/shut down my Switch? I fully expect to have to follow specific instructions to boot the CFW and configure it for first time use, but being in 4.1.0 do you envision a permanent soft mod solution(assuming no system updates past 4.1.0)? Or at least an easy enough way to run CFW while booting once some specific files are in place.

Thanks to You and the team for your time and effort.
 

subcon959

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Some would prefer excruciating details every step of the way, even after an explanation as to why that's not plausible at the moment.
I don't think asking for better clarity is a bad thing, or should be seen as criticism, although I understand everyone is different and others may prefer to practice quiet genuflection instead.

I'm still not entirely sure, for example, why when it's stated that everyone on current hardware will get coldboot cfw this summer (without needing to open the console or buy a particular game) that there's still reluctance to green light updating to latest firmware. The inconvenience point seems to be non-issue the more that gets revealed.
 
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Anyway instead of blaming I rather prefer to wait for something released and anyone with a lot of coding knowledge can join their team and help and source code is open too...

I'm not so sure you can even still call them a "team". The ReSwitched team does not even trust its own members with the bootrom vulnerability and only 2 people of the whole team are in the know AFAIK (SciresM and ktemkin).
If you can't trust your own team that's just... sad.
 

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I'm not so sure you can even still call them a "team". The ReSwitched team does not even trust its own members with the bootrom vulnerability and only 2 people of the whole team are in the know AFAIK (SciresM and ktemkin).
If you can't trust your own team that's just... sad.
its a team of 2 ppl
 

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Too much speculation here but I for one am incredibly happy these guys / girls are doing this for us .amazing work and thanks .whatever we have to do to achieve it we will find a way
 

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I'm still not entirely sure, for example, why when it's stated that everyone on current hardware will get coldboot cfw this summer (without needing to open the console or buy a particular game) that there's still reluctance to green light updating to latest firmware. The inconvenience point seems to be non-issue the more that gets revealed.

If i understood correcly the "inconvinience of installation" and the "fun you can have" acording to the base firmware at the moment of hacking are the things that @ktemkin fears could spill the beans about the nature of exploit, hence the reluctance to share more info.
 

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I think that there are a few more than two since Kate says she ended up in a position of authority in the team (or something like that), but I might be reading way too much into that
you are right man, i was only joking in response to the OP, ive put a smile, but used Windows phone emoji and didnt apear :facepalm:
 

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I don't think asking for better clarity is a bad thing, or should be seen as criticism, although I understand everyone is different and others may prefer to practice quiet genuflection instead.

I'm still not entirely sure, for example, why when it's stated that everyone on current hardware will get coldboot cfw this summer (without needing to open the console or buy a particular game) that there's still reluctance to green light updating to latest firmware. The inconvenience point seems to be non-issue the more that gets revealed.
Honestly? It's sounding like the other two exploits are easier or more convenient than FG. The end result sounds the same.
 

guily6669

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I'm not so sure you can even still call them a "team". The ReSwitched team does not even trust its own members with the bootrom vulnerability and only 2 people of the whole team are in the know AFAIK (SciresM and ktemkin).
If you can't trust your own team that's just... sad.
I think theres still others ways to help than them really having to give the exploit to all ppl... Even on official nintendo making I'm sure only a very small amount of ppl saw their master key 4 example each team is responsible for a part...

I think its for security reasons...

I do believe anyone could help in the CFW like one do the sound part, one the images, one this, the other that... without them needing to really have their hands on the exploit at this point.
 

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This also sounds like an advice to update to 4.1.0 or at least not a challenge of 4.1.0 convenience at all, which seems to contradict the statement before :(

Can you clarify what should make anybody stay low? Esp. since if it is gone on higher FWs it implies that it can be disclosed, no?

that doesn't strike me as advice to update to 4.1.0 at all. it seems like advice to stay on it if you are already there and NOT update to 5.x.

you can always update to any firmware you want at any time, but you can't downgrade so any changes are permanent. as such, typically common practice is to stay on the lowest firmware you possibly can.
 

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Is it just me or is it correct to interpret that upgrading to later FW will just result in delayed release of FG and CFW. I seem to get the distinct impression that FG works on all circulating switches no matter the FW just that the time frame differs
 
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