[$] More efficient removal of pages from the direct map
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March 25, 2026
The kernel's direct map provides code running in kernel mode with direct
access to all physical memory installed in the system — on 64-bit systems,
at least. It obviously makes life easier for kernel developers, but the
direct map also brings some problems of its own, most of which are
security-related. Interest in removing at least some pages from the direct
map has been simmering for years; a couple of patch sets under
discussion show some use cases for memory that has been removed from the
direct map, and how such memory might be efficiently managed.
Discussion in the ATmosphere