Oculus Quest 2 Jailbreak Experiences Success Bypassing Fb Providers
The call for a Quest 2 jailbreak – a means to free the device from the requirements of the Facebook account and other software-based restrictions – came within days of the headset’s release. Today, less than two weeks later, the first jailbreak for the headset was reportedly verified.
XRSI – a nonprofit that promotes privacy and security in the XR space – today claimed to have verified a Quest 2 jailbreak method that allows complete control of the device and skip the Facebook account requirements. Here is the full statement from Kavya Pearlman, the founder of XRSI, via the group’s blog, Ready Hacker 1.
A researcher from the XR community has been given root access to Oculus Quest 2 and can bypass Facebook login. XRSI’s own researchers have validated this jailbreak and are currently working on collecting assurances to protect the people who discovered these jailbreaking methods. We also learned that there are other researchers out there who have been given similar access and are unsure how to proceed without clear guidelines on the right to repair. If you are one of these researchers, we encourage you to contact us and share the details in a secure manner. Contact the XR security initiative XRSI via info@xrsi.org or use the signal 510-990-4438
Days after Quest 2 started, Robert Long, a WebXR developer at Mozilla, offered $ 5,000 of their own money to anyone who can exempt Quest 2 from Facebook services. Shortly thereafter, Oculus’ late founder Palmer Luckey vowed to match Long’s bounty, which found support among several other voices in the community.
Long said of today’s news that XRSI’s “legal and security literacy was critical to driving this effort”. He originally planned to fund an even bigger bounty for jailbreaking, but it seems jailbreakers beat him too. Nevertheless, he wants to make his offer good and encourages others who have offered appropriate support.
“I’m still determined to pay off my bounty, and I hope that when we find out that community members will too,” said Long.
Photo from Road to VR
XRSI, the organization that verified the Quest 2 jailbreak, aims to “create standards, guidelines, and awareness for XR stakeholders”.
The group has put together what it believes is a “free, globally accessible set of rules” that is the bringing together of various experts from different backgrounds and fields, including data protection and cybersecurity, cloud computing, immersive technologies, artificial intelligence, law, Artists, product design, technology and much more. “
One of the many jailbreak-related issues is invariably the “right to repair” – the ability to have full control over your own hardware and software – that is commonly applied to smartphones and wearables like smartwatches and fitness equipment. XRSI aims to help extend the same to AR / VR headsets, including protecting users’ right to jailbreak devices like Quest 2.
Update (October 26, 2020): In a previous version of this article, a Quest 2 jailbreak review testimony was incorrectly attributed to Robert Long. This has been updated to reflect the role of XRSI in the announcement.
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