Hacking Question why cant we mask or edit certs?

[tides]

since nintendo gave each console a cert, why can't we just mask them or edit them so that they can't ban the correct cert?

do we need certs to be legit to install games and updates?

if not why not just let us fill it up with random nonsense so that our original cert won't get banned if we don't plan to go online at all

 

[copperminekd]

Because the certificates still need to be valid, and for it to be valid it needs to be issued by Nintendo's PKI. Wich obviously only they can do.

 

[Creatable]

Because certs are generated by Nintendo. Editing one would just make it invalid.

 

[Thatcher]

Also there is a risk that if there was some way to create valid certs they would be identical to someone else's and as a result both would be banned.

 

[tides]

do we need certs to be legit to install games and updates?

if not why not just let us fill it up with random nonsense so that our original cert won't get banned if we don't plan to go online at all

Also there is a risk that if there was some way to create valid certs they would be identical to someone else's and as a result both would be banned.

that has the same probability of people trying to bruteforce your bank PIN.

 

[Kukielka]

do we need certs to be legit to install games and updates?

if not why not just let us fill it up with random nonsense so that our original cert won't get banned if we don't plan to go online at all



that has the same probability of people trying to bruteforce your bank PIN.

that is literally what is beeing done with the gamecart certs. as for the console cert / key, yeah no, you can't change these, they are bound to your switch

 

[Draxzelex]

do we need certs to be legit to install games and updates?

No, certificates are only needed for online play. They serve no other function otherwise. That's why you can update .XCI dumps because the Switch will update anything that has been loaded onto the home screen. Whether its a design flaw or not is left to your imagination.

 

[tides]

that is literally what is beeing done with the gamecart certs. as for the console cert / key, yeah no, you can't change these, they are bound to your switch

cant we stop nintendo from getting the switch's cert? how is nintendo getting the switch cert anyway if we don't go online

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

No, certificates are only needed for online play. They serve no other function otherwise. That's why you can update .XCI dumps because the Switch will update anything that has been loaded onto the home screen. Whether its a design flaw or not is left to your imagination.

but nintendo is now banning cdn access so people can't update games too

 

[Draxzelex]

cant we stop nintendo from getting the switch's cert? how is nintendo getting the switch cert anyway if we don't go online

We can manipulate everything we want from the console side (which we have done already). What we cannot manipulate is what Nintendo's own CDN servers want which is a console's unique certificate. The only way to do that is by hacking the CDN itself and trust me, being banned would be the least of your worries if you tried that.

tl;dr: What you are trying to do is hack the server and not the console because the console is not forcing itself to use the certificate, the server is the one asking for it.

but nintendo is now banning cdn access so people can't update games too

Then just use DevMenu or another title manager that can install update.nsps to update. Not that big of a deal if you don't care about online play. That's the only workaround we don't have yet.

 

[tides]

Then just use DevMenu or another title manager that can install update.nsps to update. Not that big of a deal if you don't care about online play. That's the only workaround we don't have yet.

just because i don't care about online play doesn't mean i want a switch that's banned....it's like how just because you don't care about pollution, you'd be fine living next to a factory that is churning out black smog at your window every hour

 

[Kukielka]

cant we stop nintendo from getting the switch's cert? how is nintendo getting the switch cert anyway if we don't go online

They don't. If you never go online, you won't ever be banned.

 

[Draxzelex]

just because i don't care about online play doesn't mean i want a switch that's banned....it's like how just because you don't care about pollution, you'd be fine living next to a factory that is churning out black smog at your window every hour

That's a fair point but if you care about being banned, then you shouldn't be hacking the console period. The point of hacking is not to make it safe, but to give users the freedom back to their devices.

 

[Thatcher]

do we need certs to be legit to install games and updates?

if not why not just let us fill it up with random nonsense so that our original cert won't get banned if we don't plan to go online at all



that has the same probability of people trying to bruteforce your bank PIN.

4 digits aren't that hard to brute force, that's only 10,000 possible combinations

 

[Draxzelex]

4 digits aren't that hard to brute force, that's only 10,000 possible combinations

Right? Its not like Nintendo's personal signing key is 2,048 characters. There's only a finite number of possibilities after all

 

[tides]

They don't. If you never go online, you won't ever be banned.

but logs will be sent to nintendo the second i go online and the switch will get banned eventually. so this isn't a solution. not to mention that updating games with an invalid cert also gets you banned

That's a fair point but if you care about being banned, then you shouldn't be hacking the console period. The point of hacking is not to make it safe, but to give users the freedom back to their devices.

except we also have reports of people getting banned simply for using emulators/homebrew. just because it isn't widespread doesn't mean it didn't happen.

anyway there is no point arguing here that only pirates get banned because in the ban report thread, we have reports of people who get banned without pirating. also getting your entire switch banned isn't ideal regardless what you want to use it for.

 

[Thatcher]

Right? Its not like Nintendo's personal signing key is 2,048 characters. There's only a finite number of possibilities after all

Yeah, "slightly" more secure than my bank PIN

 

[Ericthegreat]

Also there is a risk that if there was some way to create valid certs they would be identical to someone else's and as a result both would be banned.

If that happened Nintendo would unban everyone. If we could leak everyones cert it would be a win for everyone.

 

[Thatcher]

If that happened Nintendo would unban everyone.

Let's hope I'm right then (Sarcasm)

 

[Draxzelex]

except we also have reports of people getting banned simply for using emulators/homebrew. just because it isn't widespread doesn't mean it didn't happen.

anyway there is no point arguing here that only pirates get banned because in the ban report thread, we have reports of people who get banned without pirating. also getting your entire switch banned isn't ideal regardless what you want to use it for.

Nah, it's actually one person. Everyone else used LayeredFS or SX OS in some capacity. Homebrew only bans are actually extremely rare. Another thing to note is that the homebrew only ban user also cleared error logs on 5.X which is not safe either so its possible he wasn't banned for homebrew but for trying to clear his error logs in the first place.

But if you see someone else who claimed a homebrew only ban, maybe you could point me to them so I can ask some follow-up questions to see if really was a homebrew only ban. I did scour GBATemp before amassing all of the data into one spreadsheet but I suppose I could miss one or two people.

 

[botossi]

Nah, it's actually one person. Everyone else used LayeredFS or SX OS in some capacity. Homebrew only bans are actually extremely rare. Another thing to note is that the homebrew only ban user also cleared error logs on 5.X which is not safe either so its possible he wasn't banned for homebrew but for trying to clear his error logs in the first place.

But if you see someone else who claimed a homebrew only ban, maybe you could point me to them so I can ask some follow-up questions to see if really was a homebrew only ban. I did scour GBATemp before amassing all of the data into one spreadsheet but I suppose I could miss one or two people.

That’s is new for me... really thought that homebrew error reports could ban easily.

Just sharing my small experience, tried 2 games with LayerS and after quick repent i deleted the Donor game and went online to buy the games I wanted. No ban so ever.