Updated Xbox360 tools

Hi Internets. Long time, no speak.

Over the weekend I dusted off my trusty Xbox360 and figured I should give it a little bit of use before its next gen replacement arrives. While I was setting it up and preparing it for use I thought it was about time I shared the current versions of my Xbox360 tools as well as a new one that is not feature complete, but at this stage may never be. :)

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XexTool v6.0 Update

I have been meaning to update this site for a while, and also to release updates for XexTool and the Xex Loader for IDA. So over the weekend I finally got around to doing so.

For those who don’t know, XexTool is a windows command line tool that gives info on every aspect of an Xbox360 xex file. It also extracts the file that the xex is based on (usually an exe file) and has the ability to alter most of the various flags and parameters set inside an xex file.

XexTool v6.0

The IDA loader for XEX files enables you to directly load an xex file into the IDA disassembler in order to look at what the internal code is doing. This is extremely useful for developers and reversers. If you don’t know what IDA is or what this loader does, then this tool isn’t for you. :)

Xex Loader for IDA v6.0

PS3 and Xbox360 IDA Plugin Update (again)

As more special PPC instructions are stumbled across, support for them gets added to the plugin. I know I could go through an exhaustive list of all instructions and add them all, but for now I am content with adding them a few at a time 😛

PPC Altivec plugin v1.6 for IDA v5.6

Support added for the instructions: attn, lwsync, ptesync, tlbiel, tlbie, tlbi, slbie.

Also added support for the SystemSim “callthru” instruction (should this even be used outside of a simulator?) and lastly an instruction that I cannot find any information about. The hex value is 0x02002000 so for now I have added this instruction as opcode_02002000 so that it will at least disassemble to code and can therefore be treated as code. If anyone knows what this instruction is please let me know :)

PS3 and Xbox360 IDA Plugin Update

Here is version 1.5 of the PPC Altivec Plugin for IDA v5.6 which adds support for special instructions that are used by some PPC based devices. This was originally written by Dean Ashton and then updated by Takires.

This is useful when disassembling Xbox360 and PS3 binaries in IDA as they utilise these special instructions that are not supported by IDAs built in PPC disassembler module.

I have done some fixes to instructions that were previously handled incorrectly, as well as adding support for some new instructions. I also fixed an issue where instruction sizes were being reported incorrectly resulting in an incorrect disassembly.

Bruteforcing AES encrypted data

When it comes to cryptography algorithms the topic of bruteforcing them appears often, however is rarely dealt with in a satisfying way. Usually such a discussion will start with someone asking “Why not just bruteforce it?” and end with someone stating “It is not possible, it would take too long”. Occasionally someone will chip in with “Why not randomly guess it? You might get lucky”. So one day I decided to  find out if it is possible, and if not, to at least get an idea of just how long “too long” is.

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Cryptography For Dummies

This is a very basic overview of some common cryptographic terms and techniques employed not just in videogame consoles but universally. I will make generalisations in order to simplify the explanations, so I urge you to read more elsewhere to get a fuller understanding. Bruce Schneier’s Applied Cryptography is widely regarded as the best introduction and reference book on cryptography. Continue reading

Current List of Revoked Xbox 360 Consoles

Everyone has heard about the Xbox360 bans that stop a console from connecting to Xbox Live, however not many people realise that Xbox360 consoles can also be revoked. Below you can find a list of all the currently revoked consoles at the time of the Fall’08 system update release. Read on to find out why and how an Xbox360 gets revoked and what effect it has. Continue reading

New Xbox360 Disc Protections? Bans to follow?

I noticed the other day that when FIFA’09 for Xbox360 is patched with the latest update, the flags that specify what media the game is allowed to run from have changed. Originally it was allowed to boot from a standard original Xbox360 disc, however now it is only allowed to boot from a new media type which is basically an updated version of the original Xbox360 disc type. Continue reading