This option can be used to select the type of process address space randomization that is used in the system, for architectures that support this feature.
0 - Turn the process address space randomization off. This is the default for architectures that do not support this feature anyways, and kernels that are booted with the “norandmaps” parameter.
1 - Make the addresses of mmap base, stack and VDSO page randomized. This, among other things, implies that shared libraries will be loaded to random addresses. Also for PIE-linked binaries, the location of code start is randomized. This is the default if the CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK option is enabled.
2 - Additionally enable heap randomization. This is the default if CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK is disabled.
There are a few legacy applications out there (such as some ancient
versions of libc.so.5 from 1996) that assume that brk area starts
just after the end of the code+bss. These applications break when
start of the brk area is randomized. There are however no known
non-legacy applications that would be broken this way, so for most
systems it is safe to choose full randomization.
Systems with ancient and/or broken binaries should be configured
with CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK enabled, which excludes the heap from process
address space randomization.