Malicious Messages Are "Bricking" PlayStation 4 Consoles

Megalith

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PlayStation 4 owners on reddit say there are messages going around with an exploit capable of bricking consoles. Those who are affected have to force a factory reset, but the problem can be avoided by setting messages to private, which can be configured via Settings > Account Management > Privacy Settings.

“A player from the other team used a dummy account to send the message and crashed my entire team,” said reddit user Huntstark. “We all have had to factory reset. Only one of our guys wasn’t affected and he has his messages private.” According to user BorgDrone, basically, someone can ‘brick’ another’s PS4 just by using “a message designed to exploit a mistake in the code.”
 
how can a message brick the console?...does the user have to click a link to activate the exploit?
 
How can it be bricked if it can be reset? Did the meaning of 'bricked' change?
It's a soft-brick–the software is in a bad state and refuses to run, requiring a factory reset. In the case of a hard brick, the hardware is in a bad state and requires either a firmware flash or replacement.
 
It's a soft-brick–the software is in a bad state and refuses to run, requiring a factory reset. In the case of a hard brick, the hardware is in a bad state and requires either a firmware flash or replacement.

That's just it, it used to be when you say bricked it literally meant bricked and the item is as useful as a brick.
 
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It's a soft-brick–the software is in a bad state and refuses to run, requiring a factory reset. In the case of a hard brick, the hardware is in a bad state and requires either a firmware flash or replacement.

Terminology must have changed or been added to. When flashing devices I am used to bricking a device with bad or incorrect firmware (PS3, Galaxy’s, Nexus...). You would be lucky when a bad flash would still allow access to recovery tools when your system boot loops.
 
So... Sony they saw the problems Apple had recently and thought they'd join in?
 
Wonder if a couch friend is logged, can it soft-brick your ps4 too ? I guess yes, so the workaround with privacy setting needs to be done on all logged accounts ?
 
You can fix this by just logging in to PlayStation.com and just deleting the message too. You don’t need to factory reset, people are just being babies.
 
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Kind of reminds me of those messages that had similar effects on Iphone's. [H] did a number of stories on them.
 
So does this result in a win for the other team or do they just do it for the aggravation factor?
 
There used to be an exploit in U2XMP multiplayer where you could spam a combination of ascii text in different colors and lag out the match, or if you wanted, go all out and crash the server with certain combinations. Thank god you could ip ban on the server side fortunately. Not sure how playstation goes about finding perpetrators and punishing them. IP bans work well when someone is using their parents Internets :)
 
So you can delete the message or factory reboot the console? That is not bricking.
 
It's not bricking in the direct sense of the term, but I think most people understand. And for many people, will they know to log onto playstation.com to delete the message? This should be treated as a serious issue, and hopefully gets resolved, and those who sent the messages be treated appropriately.
 
I can't read the article, but in the OP I see quotes around brick, suggesting it's not exactly technically true.

Is brick the correct term?
I could see it used to describe that friend who didn't return a call within a few hours. "Bitch is now bricked, just throw it out..." some cannot reset a betrayal like that no matter how hard you try. a modern day "talk to the hand"
 
Sony has reportedly fixed a nasty PS4 bug that would send the console into a crash loop when a particular malicious message was received. Naturally, some players exploited this bug over the weekend by crashing the enemy team. On Twitter, Sony's UK support team said "We've since fixed the issue, and it wasn't bricking consoles, just sending them into a crash loop that can be quickly fixed in under 5 minutes. Delete the message on the PS mobile app, go into Safe Mode, use Option 5, console back to normal."

If you were already affected by the messaging bug then there are steps you can take to get your console back up and running: 1. Turn off the PS4 system by pressing the power button on the front panel. The power indicator will blink for a few moments before turning off 2. Once the PS4 system is off, press and hold the power button again. Release it after you hear the second beep: one beep will sound when you first press, and another seven seconds later. 3. Connect the DualShock 4 with the USB cable and press the PS button on the controller.
 
There used to be an exploit in U2XMP multiplayer where you could spam a combination of ascii text in different colors and lag out the match, or if you wanted, go all out and crash the server with certain combinations. Thank god you could ip ban on the server side fortunately. Not sure how playstation goes about finding perpetrators and punishing them. IP bans work well when someone is using their parents Internets :)

Reminds me when iL2 shturmovik the original was hot shit, an enemy aircraft would be shooting up yo ass, all you had to do was keep pushing scrnsht button and all his bullets would somehow magically not hit you.

You could tell when they were doing it, as their plane started glitching and would look like it was doing 90 degree right angled turns infront of you. Cunts.
 
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