These were the same keys that would have allowed a Chinese hacking group known as 'Blue Disk' to release a purchasable CFW (custom firmware) for 4.21 and above. In September 2011, Lulzsec Cody Kretsinger was arrested for attacking Sony pictures website that had previously been taken offline by a DDOS attack lasting over 2 months, Kretsinger had found and released level 0 security codes that could be used to run unauthorized firmware known as CFW ('Custom Firmware'). These flashers still work on the latest system software version and can be purchased online. It would then flash the memory off the chip and backup the PlayStation's firmware, downgrading the console when the hard-drive was formatted. These hardware mods were NAND/NOR chip flashers that would either be soldered or clipped onto the PlayStation's chips on NAND/NOR chip located on the PlayStation's motherboard.

In August 2011, information about hardware that was downgrading PlayStations on system software v3.70 was being released. The creators of PS3 Jailbreak also released PS Downgrade which enables downgrading of PlayStation 3's System Software to v3.41 (Or lower) from v3.42, v3.50, and v3.55.

Most of these only work on PlayStation 3 system software v3.41 or lower as PlayStation's System Software v3.42 patches the mod chip exploit on the console. Multiple devices to perform code execution exist, such as the open sourced versions (e.g. Backup Manager can also be used to run homebrew applications that are created to run in the console's native mode. One of the most popular pieces of homebrew software used with the device is Backup Manager, which allows users to copy game titles from the optical media to the hard drive of the PlayStation 3. It works by bypassing a system security check using a memory exploit ( heap overflow) which occurs with USB devices that allows the execution of unsigned code. PlayStation 3 Jailbreak was the first USB (Universal Serial Bus) chipset that allowed unauthorized execution of code, similar to homebrew, on the PlayStation 3.

4.76 custom firmware ps3