In less than two weeks after launch the Switch has already been hacked.
Coming from the same source that announced the PS VITA hack, the Switch’s security has been breached via the hidden browser.
It appears that the not-so-well hidden Nintendo Switch browser shipped with a bunch of old vulnerabilities that hackers were able to leverage. Yesterday, hacker qwertyoruiop (known for Jailbreaks of multiple iOS versions, and who also contributed to the PS4 1.76 Jailbreak) posted a screenshot of what seems to be a Webkit exploit running on the Nintendo Switch.
According to the hacker, “all” he had to do was slightly tweak his existing jailbreakMe iOS Webkit exploit (hence the mention of iOS and pangu in the screenshot) and remove iOS specific code from it. Although qwertyoruiop has not provided any proof or release besides a screenshot, the hacker’s reputation makes it highly unlikely to be a hoax (I do not have access to the hack or a Nintendo Switch here to verify. It might actually be the first time in history that people could get their hands on a console hack more easily than on the console itself).
It’s well known that browsers are the easiest way to hack devices. This has been true since the original jailbreak on the iOS and more recently the Vita, 3DS, and Wii U. It’s not clear how easy it will be to pirate games or mod them but it seems we are in the starting phase.