Nintendo has removed beginner-friendly programming game, SmileBASIC 4, from the UK eShop amid news of the Switch 2 jailbreak.
The UK eShop has delisted the store page for SmileBASIC 4 after word about a new Nintendo Switch 2 jailbreak started making the rounds across the internet. The page now returns a 404 error featuring Star Fox’s Peppy Hare, as seen in the image below. As of writing, the game is still available on the US, Canada, and Mexico eShops, but this may change very soon.
For the uninitiated, security researcher Sammy Hajhamid recently shared a software-based jailbreak for the Nintendo Switch 2, claiming compatibility with firmware version 23.0.1. Dubbed “ns2jb,” the exploit is a major breakthrough for homebrew, console-modding, and emulation communities.
According to the hacker’s blog post, the jailbreak is tethered, meaning it currently requires a connection-assisted process rather than providing a permanent, standalone modification. Nevertheless, it enables arbitrary native code execution with the privileges of ordinary system modules and the console’s built-in filesystem module. These capabilities open the door to running homebrew applications, reverse-engineering games, backing up save files, and investigating the console’s hardware. They’ll also help developers make progress toward custom firmware and, eventually, emulation projects. The hacker also demonstrated a modified version of Mario Kart World, as seen in the video below.
The exploit combines vulnerabilities in SmileBASIC 4, a Nintendo Switch game, with a separate attack against the console’s filesystem system module. A 32-bit integer overflow in the game’s array-handling code enabled memory manipulation, while a buffer overflow involving filesystem path normalization helped obtain more powerful access. By exploiting weaknesses in how executable files are served and verified, the researcher describes a route to running custom native code with elevated privileges. The technical details suggest that the work involved overcoming multiple security protections rather than relying on a single vulnerability. However, this is not yet a complete, user-friendly jailbreak solution. The work remains tethered, and further development is needed to expand its capabilities and improve accessibility.
