Understand and Visualize Process Memory Layout

Virtual Address Space Layout

A Linux process sees text, data, heap, mmap regions, stack, and kernel space in virtual memory. pmap, /proc/self/maps, and lldb's memory view show the same layout compilers and exploit mitigations depend on.

Typical x86-64 Layout

Low addresses: executable text, read-only rodata, writable data and BSS. Heap grows up via brk/mmap. Stack grows down from a high address. Libraries mmap between heap and stack.

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• PIE moves text to random base with ASLR
• Guard pages detect stack overflow
• mmap places shared libs and anonymous mappings
• Kernel space is above user limit (canonical high half)

Connecting to real compilers

Production compilers embed this step inside a longer pipeline. GCC flows through cpp, cc1, assembly, and ld; Clang uses the driver, Sema, LLVM IR passes, and a target backend. LLVM bitcode, JVM bytecode, and WASM are other familiar IRs at the same layer. The exercise isolates one pass so you can test it alone before chaining it to the next stage.

Why for this exercise

You will understand and visualize process memory layout. This exercise asks you to model segment addresses, heap/stack growth, and how the loader places ELF sections in virtual memory.