You may recall hearing the PS5 can now run Linux. The catch was that it needed a console running much older firmware, long before Sony nixed the exploits used.
Well, the jailbreak door is ajar again (‘get a better metaphor, Joey’ – the world).
The new pLinux5-NG project adapts the old PS5 Linux bootloader to use a different set of exploits: Relapse jailbreak and Byepervisor-Reborn, the latter to circumvent the console’s hypervisor protections.
It allows booting Linux on PS5 consoles with newer firmware versions than previously required, as recent as July 2026’s v13.60. But – catch time – this particular effort only supports firmware 13.20.
Sony’s newest 14.x firmware also block the exploits used by this. As PSN access requires the latest system software, casual gamers with piqued interest in jailbreaking may find they’re more interested in using it as intended.
Rewarding benchmarks show promise
Now, most PS5 owners aren’t hankering to run GIMP or browse the web in Firefox on their console. The main aspiration is to use Sony’s gaming hardware as a regular Linux gaming PC and run Steam titles, etc.
Tests on older firmware did show some interesting results. GTA V Enhanced reportedly ran at close to 60fps at 1440p. While those kind of results don’t map to the new bootloader on more recent firmware, it shows merit in the undertaking.
A PS5 will never be a practical Linux gaming PC. It’s far less hassle (and expense, for those needing to buy an un-updated console) to build, buy or upgrade a traditional PC.
But hackporting efforts like this aren’t really so much about ‘why’ as ‘why not.
Every firmware revision that can be made to run Linux – whatever the leaps and hurdles involved – brings the whole idea of running PC games on a PS5 a little closer to reality.
(via notebookcheck)