ASLR
acronymsecurityprogramming
Stands for: address space layout randomization
Randomizing where a process's memory regions land, so their addresses differ on every run.
Exploitation generally requires knowing where something is, so shuffling the stack, heap, libraries, and with PIE the executable itself turns a reliable attack into a guess. Its weakness is anything that leaks an address, since one leaked pointer can derandomize an entire region, which is why information disclosure bugs are rated more seriously than their direct impact suggests. Paired with NX and canaries, it is the third leg of standard process hardening.
Also known as: address space layout randomization