An unpatched software flaw of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console is claimed to allow hackers to take control of the system.

Microsoft has acknowledged the vulnerability and released a patch last month (version 4552). As a result, the hack works on Xbox 360s that were connected to Xbox Live and received patches up until October but were then disconnected from the Internet.

"Microsoft investigated the situation. The vulnerability in Xbox 360 can only allow a user to modify the Xbox configuration," Microsoft told CDRInfo.

The vulnerability could let users override the Xbox security system and allow them to install a custom operating system, including Linux. However, it seems that there in not much interest among enthusiasts towards this direction, at least for now.