March 17, 2026
Hold my Bliss
Microsoft's 'unhackable' Xbox One has been hacked by 'Bliss'
‘Unhackable’ Xbox One finally cracked — cheers, side‑eye, and memes erupt
TLDR: A hacker used a precisely timed power flicker to break the Xbox One’s long‑standing defenses, and it can’t be fixed with an update. Commenters are split between “never say unhackable,” suspicion about insider help, and excitement for homebrew and game preservation—while others shrug that it’s a decade late for most players.
The internet is cackling at Microsoft’s “unhackable” boast after hacker Markus “Doom” Gaasedelen unveiled Bliss, a power‑flicker trick that makes the Xbox One swallow custom code. Think two perfectly timed blips to the console’s power so early in boot that its security checks snooze and your code walks right in. It’s a hardware move, so no update can fix it—and that’s where the drama kicked off.
Top comment energy? “Never call anything unhackable,” scoffed one user, as others piled on with memes of locks snapping and “Achievement Unlocked: Hubris.” But not everyone’s dunking. A calmer camp argues it was “effectively unhackable” for a decade—long enough to count as a win for Microsoft—while the conspiracy corner speculates about Gaasedelen’s past in Microsoft’s security team. No proof, just spicy side‑eye.
Meanwhile, the gearheads are swooning. One commenter described the move like a magician’s misdirection: a tiny dip and spike at just the right millisecond and—presto—the console thinks the safety test passed. “Beautiful,” they sighed. Homebrew and emulation fans are buzzing too, hoping this opens the vault for preservation and fan‑made apps—even if most Xbox One games already run better on PC.
Microsoft hasn’t weighed in yet, but the vibe is clear: the fortress fell, the comment section is dancing on the ramparts, and the only real winner today is the popcorn industry. For the nerd receipts, see coverage at Tom’s Hardware
Key Points
- •Researcher Markus “Doom” Gaasedelen unveiled a new Xbox One exploit called “Bliss” at RE//verse 2026.
- •Bliss uses a double voltage glitch (VGH) to induce precise CPU voltage collapses, bypassing boot-time protections.
- •The first glitch skips ARM Cortex memory protection setup; the second targets Memcpy during header read to redirect execution.
- •As a boot ROM-level hardware attack, the exploit is described as unpatchable and enables unsigned code at all privilege levels.
- •Potential outcomes include improved access for digital archivists, possible emulation advances, and development of a mod chip to automate the attack.