I would like to disable address space layout randomization (ASLR) on my system (Ubuntu Gnu/Linux 2.6.32-41-server), but, if I use
sysctl -w kernel.randomize_va_space=0
the change would affect all users on the system, I presume. (Is this true?) How can I limit the effects of disabling ASLR to myself as a user only, or only to the shell session in which I invoke the command to disable?
BTW, I see that my system's current (default) setting is
kernel.randomize_va_space = 2
Why 2 and not 1 or 3? Where can I find documentation about the numerical values of /proc/sys settings, their ranges, and their meanings? Thanks!
The documentation for the randomize_va_space sysctl setting is in Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt in the kernel source tree. Basically,
0 - Turn the process address space randomization off.
1 - Make the addresses of mmap base, stack and VDSO page randomized.
2 - Additionally enable heap randomization.