Microsoft Xbox One Hacked: "instead of tinkering with the system rest pin(s) the hacker targeted the momentary collapse of the CPU voltage rail"

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/03/microsoft-xbox-hacked.html

Technically impressive. Unclear economic impact but a great lesson.

#jgshare

Microsoft Xbox One Hacked - Schneier on Security

It’s an impressive feat, over a decade after the box was released: Since reset glitching wasn’t possible, Gaasedelen thought some voltage glitching could do the trick. So, instead of tinkering with the system rest pin(s) the hacker targeted the momentary collapse of the CPU voltage rail. This was quite a feat, as Gaasedelen couldn’t ‘see’ into the Xbox One, so had to develop new hardware introspection tools. Eventually, the Bliss exploit was formulated, where two precise voltage glitches were made to land in succession. One skipped the loop where the ...

Schneier on Security