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Servers – Enable Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)

Support > Fixing Checks > Server

05 March, 2026

This check ensures that Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) is enabled on the system. ASLR is a security technique that randomly arranges the address space positions of key data areas of a process, including the stack, heap, and libraries.

Randomizing memory locations makes it significantly harder for attackers to predict memory addresses and exploit vulnerabilities such as buffer overflow attacks.

Check Details

  • Resource: Server
  • Check: Enable Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)
  • Risk: If ASLR is not enabled, attackers may be able to predict memory addresses and exploit vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows or return-oriented programming (ROP) attacks.

Remediation Steps

  1. Open a terminal session on the target server with root or sudo privileges.
  2. Configure the system to enable ASLR by setting the kernel parameter in the sysctl configuration file.

    sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf
    
  3. Add or update the following configuration line to enable full ASLR protection.

    kernel.randomize_va_space = 2
    
  4. Apply the setting immediately by updating the active kernel parameter.

    sudo sysctl -w kernel.randomize_va_space=2