Announcing RocketLauncher! The first exploit with unlocked Arm7!

UPDATE:
Looks like NoCash found an exploit that is even better then RocketLauncher:

https://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm

He titled it Unlaunch. The exploit works by exploiting a flaw in Stage2 and apparently works on all firmware versions. It requires you run the installer from a DSiWare based hax environment as access to SD/NAND is required. (thus you can't run this from Slot-1 based TWL exploit)

The flaw in stage2 is a buffer overflow involving Launcher's TMD file. If you provide a larger then normal TMD file, it will attempt to load the TMD into ram anyways (this occurs before it does the RSA check) This causes it to overwrite some code in arm9 ram causing arm9 to execute the custom payload. The full details are found in the info menus in the installer.

Note however the installer does not appear to work correctly at the moment. I'd advise you not attempt to install it from the installer. Use the manual install method instead. BUT I'd highly recommend you have a hard mod before attempting manual install. If you have had experience modifying your nand you may be ok doing this. But for safety sake I would just advise against that until the installer works properly.

(this is one reason why RL hasn't been released yet. No proper installer tools are available yet and we don't want people bricking consoles trying to install it)

The release of this exploit may impact our plans regarding RocketLauncher. I'll post more about this once StuckPixel has decided to comment on this.


Important Notice:

Do NOT visit Data Management in DSi System Settings or use the 3DS Transfer tool after installing unlaunch. You WILL brick the console. Wait until HiyaCFW is refined/released properly so that SD redirected version of Launcher can be used or when NoCash decides to implement his own version of the SD redirect patch.








Today I can finally announce a new exploit for the Nintendo DSi. I found this flaw back on May 29th. Almost a year after NoCash initially discovered a oversight by Nintendo involving the DS Cart White list which this exploit takes advantage of (Nintendo forgot to reimplement the RSA checks on it lolz). I was fudging with various things in the white list to try and get a crash. I got system menu to crash by using large values in section 3! So I contacted NoCash and a few other devs about this to investigate it and to see if it's exploitable. Well long story short it was!


Summery of the above video:

1. The exploit requires 1.4.0 firmware! Older or newer fw revisions do not work!
2. The exploit requires a flashcart that you are able to modify the internal rom it presents to the system.
3. Details on which cards will be compatible will be revealed at a later time.
4. The exploit involves a buffer overflow flaw involving section 3 of the white list.
5. This overflow occurs on arm7 thus allowing overwriting memory exclusive to arm7.
6. As a result a large enough overflow will hit the IRQ interrupt handler. This is how we gain code execution.
7. Arm9 was relatively easy to take over. Though data caching presented a minor roadblock while testing on hardware. :P
8. I currently use a modified build of nds-bootloader from WinterMute's github. You know, that portion of hbmenu responsible for booting SRLs. :P
9. Because we already gained arm7 we only had to put arm9 in the correct wait state so that nds-bootloader can do it's thing. :D
10. The exploit in theory can work from the menu once it's running. But we currently make use of the auto boot feature to ensure a stable consistant environment. Tests with a second console suggest that is the case. Note that the exception vector for arm7 seems to either be somewhere else once the menu GUI is running or the overflow hits something else causing arm7 to crash early. Currently we plan to only target exploiting the system with an autoboot rom as it's more predictable.
11. The exact machanics of the arm9 take over and how nds-bootloader is loaded may change. Currently the entire payload fits on the cart. But we may allow reading a payload off SD instead.

Credits to NoCash, Gericom, and Normmatt for help testing/figuring this out. Big credit to StuckPixel who put in most of the coding needed to make this happen. My contribution was finding the flaw and help with testing on hardware.


I will release further details as we finalize this exploit and prepare stuff that will make installing it easier.

Note you will either need a nand mod or a DSiWare based exploit to downgrade your console/install the modified white list needed for this to work. Hopefully we'll have a better solution then simply using fwtool to do this so that may be the factor that determines release date so please be patient!

When things are ready I will update this thread!
 
Last edited by Apache Thunder,
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Between this, the Switch's kernel being exploited, Vita getting a GCS to SD adaptor, and rumors of a PS4 hack this has been a fantastic month for exploiting consoles! Keep it up everyone, and thanks to all the hackers for your hard work, including you @Apache_Thunder. (Best birthday month ever!)
 
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smf

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the Switch's kernel being exploited,

"The hackers have found the Switch’s kernal, which is part of what connects the the apps (games, emulations, etc.) to the hardware itself. If the hackers can either dump or manipulate the OS, it would give free reign for players to do what they want with their Switch."

Supposedly a switch exploit is a long way off. Although it wouldn't be unrealistic to see an emulator soon.
 

jerbear64

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why does it need a flash card if you can just modify the nand with dsiware hax if you can do that you can just patch out rsa checks
The point isn't to get flashcarts working, it's to get full control over the DSi, something DSiWare can't do.

Also, it isn't as easy as you think to "just" patch out the RSA checks.
 
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Patxinco

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so i i have sudokuhax but im on 1.4.5 i can do this?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsi-downgrading-the-complete-guide.393682/page-9#post-7380132
I was exactly like you, follow the thread i'm linking and in my post there's a link to another post by @Apache Thunder with the Fwtool 1.6.
Good Luck!!!
why does it need a flash card if you can just modify the nand with dsiware hax if you can do that you can just patch out rsa checks
You can patch rsa checks if you want, but you cannot access the DSi card slot features with dsiware.
That's why we need this, IIRC
 

SoslanVanWieren

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https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsi-downgrading-the-complete-guide.393682/page-9#post-7380132
I was exactly like you, follow the thread i'm linking and in my post there's a link to another post by @Apache Thunder with the Fwtool 1.6.
Good Luck!!!

You can patch rsa checks if you want, but you cannot access the DSi card slot features with dsiware.
That's why we need this, IIRC
well you could if you modded the firmware on the dsi it would be harder to do but that can also be done
 

smf

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why does it need a flash card if you can just modify the nand with dsiware hax if you can do that you can just patch out rsa checks

Nobody has figured out how to patch out the checks from a cold boot without a flash card. If you just patch the nand then the dsi will refuse to boot, because there is a check embedded in the mask rom.

It may be possible to find another exploit that doesn't require a flash card, but it's taken a long to find this exploit. I'm not holding my breath for another.

well you could if you modded the firmware on the dsi it would be harder to do but that can also be done

Nintendo could do it, but without the keys then it would be practically impossible for you to do it. Unless someone finds another exploit, which is also practically impossible for you to do.
 
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