Underground piracy scene release group known as BigBlueBox (BBB) have just released a master key for the Nintendo Switch.

In their 60th Nintendo game cartridge dump - a process where the group rips all of the data from a retail Nintendo Switch cartridge and then uploads it to the internet, is an .nfo file, an information requirement when packaging illegal warez. It is in this file that BBB have revealed the first of 32 Nintendo Switch Master Keys, used for firmwares 1.0.0-2.3.0:

Û²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ²Û
Û²ÛÛÛÛßß                                                               ßßÛÛÛÛ²Û
Û²ÛÛÛ         ÜÜÜÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛÜÜÜÜ          ÛÛÛ²Û
ÛÛÛÛ         ÛÛ²²²²²²²²²²²²² >>>  BigBlueBox  <<< ²²²²²²²²²²²²²ÛÛ          ÛÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ           ßßßÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛßßßß            ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ                                                                         ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ   ÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛ   ÛÛÛ
Û²Û   Û                        Proudly Presents:                        Û   Û²Û
Û²Û   Û          Dragon Quest Heroes I II for Nintendo Switch           Û   Û²Û
Û²Û   Û                                                                 Û   Û²Û
Û²Û   ÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛ   Û²Û
ÛÛÛ                                                                         ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ                          Release Information                            ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ                       ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß                          ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ      þ Date ............  þ  ......  þ   01/02/2018              þ      ÛÛÛ
Û²Û      þ Platform ........  þ  ......  þ   NSW                     þ      Û²Û
Û²Û      þ Region ..........  þ  ......  þ   JPN                     þ      Û²Û
Û²Û      þ Publisher........  þ  ......  þ   Square Enix             þ      Û²Û
Û²Û      þ Imagesize........  þ  ......  þ   32GB Cart               þ      Û²Û
ÛÛÛ      þ File Name .......  þ  ......  þ   bbb-h-babka.xci         þ      ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ      þ Game ID .........  þ  ......  þ   0100CD3000BDC000        þ      ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ      þ Game Revision ...  þ  ......  þ   1.0.0                   þ      ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ      þ .................  þ  ......  þ   ...................     þ      ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ      þ Languages .......  þ  ......  þ   Ja                      þ      ÛÛÛ
Û²Û      þ .................  þ  ......  þ   ...................     þ      Û²Û
Û²Û                                                                         Û²Û
Û²Û     ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ     Û²Û
Û²Û    ÛÛ                                                             ÛÛ    Û²Û
ÛÛÛ   ÛÛ                        Release Notes:                         ÛÛ   ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ  ÛÛ                 Time for another Switch release                 ÛÛ  ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ ÛÛ                  So Nintendo Switch needs Heroes                  ÛÛ ÛÛÛ
Û²Û ÛÛ           its February 1st and this is our #60 release            ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ        so let us share something very special with you all        ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ                                                                   ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ            MasterKey0:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX            ÛÛ Û²Û
ÛÛÛ ÛÛ                                                                   ÛÛ ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ ÛÛ         Thats right, the Master Key for Firms 1.0.0-2.3.0         ÛÛ ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ ÛÛ             maybe as time goes on more keys will come             ÛÛ ÛÛÛ
Û²Û ÛÛ                                                                   ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ          Other Keys are required for the following firms          ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ                      MasterKey1: 3.0.0                            ÛÛ Û²Û
Û²Û ÛÛ                      MasterKey2: 3.0.1-3.0.2                      ÛÛ Û²Û
ÛÛÛ ÛÛ                      MasterKey3: 4.0.0-4.1.0                      ÛÛ ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ  ÛÛ                                                                 ÛÛ  ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛ   ÛÛ    that is all for now, Biggest Switch game so far though     ÛÛ   ÛÛÛ
Û²Û    ÛÛ                       Enjoy as Always                       ÛÛ    Û²Û
Û²Û     ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß     Û²Û
Û²Û         ÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛ         Û²Û
Û²Û         Û  Greetings to everyone who likes to play our games  Û         Û²Û
ÛÛÛ         ÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛ         ÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛÛ                                                                      ÜÛÛÛÛ
ÛÛÛÛÛÜÜ                                                               ÜÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ
 ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ²²²²²²²²²²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ²²²²²²²²²²²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ²²²²²²²²²²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ

Having the key is highly illegal so it has been removed from the above info.

It is currently impossible to play any cartridge dumps on Nintendo Switch hardware.

Also:

Please be mindful when posting in threads that we do not, under any circumstances condone piracy, and will not facilitate the spreading of illegal ROM files, or any other kind of warez.

Please do not ask for illegal files
Please do not post illegal files
Please do not share links to sites that host illegal warez
Failure to adhere will result in account suspensions or permanent bans.

If you see any of these activities, please report them.

If you have any questions please refer to GBAtemp's TOS


As always GBAtemp will keep you updated with any further developments.

 

[gnmmarechal]

.nfo
homebrew uses .nro

uh.... Are you sure you're not mistaken? nfo files are usually, well, plain text files provided with warez releases.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I mean, is it really illegal to post a short string of numbers?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_number

 

[Thirty3Three]

sweet x's!

 

[FAST6191]

I mean, is it really illegal to post a short string of numbers?

That is always a fun discussion. The first time it really came to the fore was the HD DVD key leaks. Various lawyers rattled sabres (not for here but in general and at various sites reporting on it, mostly Digg), other lawyers could not point to something that it might contravene* but urged caution anyway.

To that end the thoughts here are "don't post them, treat them as warez". Realistically anybody that wants it can find it, the lawyers then don't have a case (even if the laws are such that they would if the key was posted) and we can all carry on with life.

In the event some company used an extraordinarily dumb choice of key (all zeros, inverse of existing one, capitals transformation in the case of ASCII... all things which have happened) then there is some scope for something but this does not seem like that.

*about as far as we got is it is not copyrighted data as it is a random number, no creative work or the like.

Anyway hopefully we can see some more people pulling apart games now. Still not sure what out there I want to fix as a ROM hacker but ripping assets and analysing game structures ( https://www.dragonflycave.com/mechanics/gen-i-capturing ) is cool too.

 

[kuwanger]

The first time it really came to the fore was the HD DVD key leaks.

You're one generation late. You forget CSS. Specifically, Illegal Prime.

 

[FAST6191]

You're one generation late. You forget CSS.

Was that the keys or decryption software? If we are doing software and methods we get to go back even further still.

 

[Captain_N]

yeah they have the keys to decrypt. Get the key to sign your own content and ill be impressed

 

[teusjuh30]

So what does this mean??? Upcoming cfw? homebrew? or only piracy?
And is this only for the lower firmwares or is the door now defenitely open?

 

[Xenon Hacks]

During Spring, Team Xecuter are planning to release a modchip that is solder/solderless for the Switch which is regardless of firmware and possibly @fail0verflow would release their bootrom exploit once the modchip is released.

NO REALLY! /s

 

[Garrincho]

My question is, what method did they use to obtain this key? Is it something already known or do they have something else?

 

[SirNapkin1334]

uh.... Are you sure you're not mistaken? nfo files are usually, well, plain text files provided with warez releases.

Oh. Well, I don't know about that. Then, I'm pretty sure it's .istorage

 

[kuwanger]

Was that the keys or decryption software?

At least in that instance, it was the software itself because the decryption algorithm was sufficiently small to represent as a relatively small prime once compressed.

If we are doing software and methods we get to go back even further still.

Except the real basis for the illegality is the DMCA (circa 1998) for circumventing copy protection schemes, which occurred at about the same time as DeCSS's release (1999). Otherwise, like you state, copyright wouldn't have been a basis to claim any illegality. It would require, instead, some contrived argument about contributory copyright infringement, which would be a much harder angle to argue. Being able to just outright ban leaked crypto keys at least makes the whole legal process of shutting down companies, websites, etc a lot easier. Like most things involving the internet, of course, it's generally futile. *shrug*

PS - I still find it quite funny that the discussion of the DMCA is copy protection schemes when the reality is nothing about decryption has anything to do with copy protection. It does have to do with use protection, which just goes to show you how intent makes phrases misnomers. After all, real copy protection schemes involve actually making it hard to copy things (like proprietary disc formats, memory cards, etc). Unfortunately (for console/handheld makers), devices themselves end up being the easy mechanism for reading proprietary format devices thanks to often lax software security.

 

[rac]

I'm too stupid to know what this means for commoners like us.

it could mean bad news, if and homebrew developers are upset by this and drop their projects.

 

[Deleted-401606]

Drop it like it´s hot!

Pimps in the crib came lol.

 

[Sicklyboy]

So it's just a bunch of X's?

Nintendo for "best cryptography implementation 2017" award.

 

[zoogie]

Nintendo for "best cryptography implementation 2017" award.

They deserve to win it for this.

I mean, if you told me two months ago Nintendo made one of its most important 3ds keys self-leaking, I would have said, "How in the hell is that even possible?"

Trust Nintendo to be innovative when it comes to security fails.

 

[Ericthegreat]

They deserve to win it for this.

I mean, if you told me two months ago Nintendo made one of its most important 3ds keys self-leaking, I would have said, "How in the hell is that even possible?"

Trust Nintendo to be innovative when it comes to security fails.

Well, I dont think they really are security "fails" as much as just, nintendo doesnt care about security as much as a lot of people think, In the grand scheme of things Nintendo understands that they dont really lose much profit.

 

[D34DL1N3R]

I'm just waiting for people to be able to go online with a modded Switch, either via homebrew/cfw or chip, so I can read the "I was banned!!!" threads.

 

[Kioku]

I'm just waiting for people to be able to go online with a modded Switch, either via homebrew/cfw or chip, so I can read the "I was banned!!!" threads.

My biggest worry is just this. I can't even call it a worry.. More like a trade off..

 

[Bladexdsl]

So it's just a bunch of X's?

and O's

 

[GhostLatte]

In the interest of misinformation not spreading everywhere:

There are three keys of interest, for a given firmware. The Master Key, the Device Key (console unique), and the Package1 Key.

The Package1 Key is used to decrypt TrustZone.

All console unique keydata is derived from the Device Key.

All non-console unique keydata is derived from the Master Key (and constants in TrustZone/sysmodules/NAND).

The "Stage 2 bootloader" key that leaked a while ago was the 1.0-2.3 Package1 key.

Knowledge of a master key doesn't allow you to do anything more in terms of gaining privilege on hardware, but it does allow you to derive all non-console unique keydata that the Switch can derive for that firmware.

In more basic terms: having a master key for a firmware lets you decrypt anything a switch on that firmware could decrypt, on your PC.

This is exactly why GBAtemp should have a feature where posts in a thread can be pinned so all users view it.