Through the years those following the hacking scene have seen plenty of games exploited in order to run code and help softmod game consoles. Cubic Ninja's QR code reader was exploited to allow for the Homebrew Launcher to be installed on the Nintendo 3DS, and an edited save file of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for the original Xbox could execute a payload that would softmod the system. A member of the Xbox scene by the name of Grimdoomer wanted to test their skill, and see if they could discover a new exploit for older consoles. Choosing to see what potential exploits could be done in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for Xbox, Grimdoomer has managed to create and release an RCE exploit that can hack not just one console, but also the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and shockingly, the Xbox 360.

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Named Tony Hawk's Pro Strcpy, the exploit exists across Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Tony Hawk's Underground 1, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. The hack is a pre-made save file that you can load for your console of choice, which utilizes the game's Create-A-Park level builder to allow remote code execution.

Fast forward to present day (2024) and I finally got around to cleaning up and releasing all these Tony Hawk exploits. However, since I’m most likely retiring from game console hacking after this I wanted to drop an absolute banger of a release so I ported the exploit to some other game consoles that are vulnerable to it. This bug exists in 5 different iterations of the Tony Hawk video game series across numerous game consoles and handhelds. No one is safe from Tony Hawk’s Pro Strcpy. Since you’re probably tired of me talking about the same strcpy bug over and over I’m only going to provide some brief details of which games for which platforms I ported the exploit to and how it may or may not make hacking those consoles easier.

Grimdoomer posted a highly-detailed blog that goes in-depth on how the strcpy bug works, and how to execute it. They also released the exploit, available on GitHub, with versions that support Tony Hawk's American Wasteland for the Xbox 360, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. He also noted that the PC version of Tony Hawk's Underground, which has a community built around a fan-patch of the game and has network play, is also exploitable, and that players should be wary.

And there you have it, the first software only exploit for the Xbox 360. It’s kind of ironic that this worked out almost exactly the same as the save game exploits for the original Xbox: performing a stack buffer overflow from a strcpy call on data contained in a save game file you can copy to your console using a memory card. You can use the strcpy bug to get ROP execution on any Xbox 360 OS version, but you’ll only be able to get full hypervisor code execution on the 4548 kernel version. If a new hypervisor bug is discovered this can easily be paired with it to work on newer kernel versions. I still have some hope that there might be an exploitable bug that would get you hypervisor code execution on a new kernel version. But I highly suspect it would be some kind of CPU or MMU bug rather than a bug in the hypervisor code.

Source
GitHub Release

 

[orangy57]

THPS4 is the GOAT, played that endlessly on the PS2 as a little kid. Would've loved this hack before I bought that 007 game to softmod the ps2. Rlly interested to see where this goes with 360 modding because there's ways to swap the DVD drive on older consoles but IIRC everything still requires a hardmod on the 360

 

[pustal]

Just snagged a copy of American Wasteland for €4.

 

[Maximo101]

Poor Tony Hawk! First reduced to doing qunol commercials, complete with a skateboard and wearing a helmet, and now this.

Next thing will be he was seen at Epstein Island...

 

[Lodad]

Someone should thank Tony Hawk for causing so many consoles to have access to affordable exploits.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Someone should thank Tony Hawk for causing so many consoles to have access to affordable exploits.

But make him apologize for Tony Hawk: Ride and Tony Hawk: Shred.

 

[PrincessLillie]

Is it finally time? Is this the first ever softmod for the 360?
I never thought I'd see the day.

 

[pustal]

But make him apologize for Tony Hawk: Ride and Tony Hawk: Shred.

I bought Shred for the 360, brand new in store for €5 over 10 years ago. That was a fair price.

 

[linuxares]

Is it finally time? Is this the first ever softmod for the 360?
I never thought I'd see the day.

No, the first was King Kong.
https://beta.ivc.no/wiki/index.php/Xbox_360_King_Kong_Shader_Exploit

(but required a patch disc drive)

 

[DragonMals]

Xbox 360 Store gets cancelled. Seconds later, now we randomly have a softmod exploit for the console. Not a surprise to me but this is still a groundbreaking achievement nonetheless. Does this mean that people can finally start using the Xbox 360 to its fullest advantage now?

 

[DAZA]

It would be interesting to see if i could use this mod on my old 360, cd drive had "enhanced" firmware but the console i had couldnt take modchips because of the model. so with this exploit chance i wonder if it opens the door for allowing me to install a dashboard and install games...

 

[tech3475]

You might want to update the title/article for the 360, as it's effectively useless for most people, as of now at least.

Not saying the exploit isn't impressive, just don't want to get people's hope up.

 

[Bagel Le Stinky]

My jaw dropped when I saw this

 

[duwen]

Super cool! Just a shame that the only 360 entry point disk is American Wasteland - which is already by far the most expensive TH title on 360. Also a shame that there's currently no exploit for PAL systems.

...regardless, I've just been on CeX and bought a copy before the price doubles.

 

[Blythe93]

I wonder if it's worth getting the PAL copy of the TH's American Wasteland if you're on a higher version of dashboard?
In any case, this looks really promising. ^^

 

[duwen]

I wonder if it's worth getting the PAL copy of the TH's American Wasteland if you're on a higher version of dashboard?
In any case, this looks really promising. ^^

That was my thinking... but after seeing how the price of some games increased after being known for hax, I bit the bullet and ordered one while it was attainable for less than £30.

 

[Chris2055]

Does this mean a legit Xbox 360 softmod? Either way Tony Hax is going down in history as the GOAT.

 

[MasterJ360]

Well damn I have another xbox360 with a flashed DVD drive to play burned games. With this hack it will be a complete hacked console. Welp time to look for this Tony Hawk game.

 

[Naendow]

Seems that RGH3 is still the way for the 360 atm. But hey, a full softmod would be damn cool. And the work done so far is very impressive.

 

[NitroRevolutionNX]

Especially for OG Xbox/Xbox 360, this could be HUGE. @MVG This is something you are interested in covering?

 

[Marc_LFD]

You might want to update the title/article for the 360, as it's effectively useless for most people, as of now at least.

Not saying the exploit isn't impressive, just don't want to get people's hope up.

Agreed.

I've always wanted to hack my 360 and even though it's been on the official firmware, I'm happy with it. Besides, I've got other consoles hacked so got games to play wherever.

And the OFW 360 had something special, users could download a DRM-free full game on PC (or demos) and then transfer them to the console. Heck, saves too (I used a 100% save of GTA SA and never had any probs).

Oh, and 360 legit game backups can be decrypted on PC. So, the 360 offered a lot of liberty in its own way.