https://nalar.dev/tags/core-dumps/ Recent content in Core Dumps on Nalar Hugo en-us Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://nalar.dev/madv-dontdump-excludes-selected-memory-mappings-from-linux-core-images/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://nalar.dev/madv-dontdump-excludes-selected-memory-mappings-from-linux-core-images/ <p>A long-running service may keep credentials, session material, or decrypted state in memory while still relying on core images for crash diagnosis. Disabling core generation for the entire process removes diagnostic state along with sensitive state. Linux provides a narrower control: <code>madvise()</code> with <code>MADV_DONTDUMP</code> marks selected mappings so the kernel omits them from a core image.</p> <p>This mechanism changes core-dump inclusion policy for an address range. It does not make the bytes inaccessible to the process, encrypt them, erase them, or create a general barrier against process inspection. Its security value is specific to one data-exposure path: memory captured through the kernel core-dump mechanism.</p>