---
name: "proc_pid_maps"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/proc_pid_maps"
---

# proc\_pid\_maps(5)

mapped memory regions

## NAME

/proc/pid/maps - mapped memory regions

## DESCRIPTION

- */proc/*pid*/maps*

  A file containing the currently mapped memory regions and their access permissions. See [**mmap**(2)](/mmap/2.md) for some further information about memory mappings.

-

  Permission to access this file is governed by a ptrace access mode **PTRACE\_MODE\_READ\_FSCREDS** check; see [**ptrace**(2)](/ptrace/2.md).

-

  The format of the file is:

-

  ```
  address           perms offset  dev   inode       pathname
  00400000-00452000 r-xp 00000000 08:02 173521      /usr/bin/dbus-daemon
  00651000-00652000 r--p 00051000 08:02 173521      /usr/bin/dbus-daemon
  00652000-00655000 rw-p 00052000 08:02 173521      /usr/bin/dbus-daemon
  00e03000-00e24000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0           [heap]
  00e24000-011f7000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0           [heap]
  ...
  35b1800000-35b1820000 r-xp 00000000 08:02 135522  /usr/lib64/ld-2.15.so
  35b1a1f000-35b1a20000 r--p 0001f000 08:02 135522  /usr/lib64/ld-2.15.so
  35b1a20000-35b1a21000 rw-p 00020000 08:02 135522  /usr/lib64/ld-2.15.so
  35b1a21000-35b1a22000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0
  35b1c00000-35b1dac000 r-xp 00000000 08:02 135870  /usr/lib64/libc-2.15.so
  35b1dac000-35b1fac000 ---p 001ac000 08:02 135870  /usr/lib64/libc-2.15.so
  35b1fac000-35b1fb0000 r--p 001ac000 08:02 135870  /usr/lib64/libc-2.15.so
  35b1fb0000-35b1fb2000 rw-p 001b0000 08:02 135870  /usr/lib64/libc-2.15.so
  ...
  f2c6ff8c000-7f2c7078c000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0    [stack:986]
  ...
  7fffb2c0d000-7fffb2c2e000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0   [stack]
  7fffb2d48000-7fffb2d49000 r-xp 00000000 00:00 0   [vdso]
  ```

-

  The *address* field is the address space in the process that the mapping occupies. The *perms* field is a set of permissions:

-

  ```
  r = read
  w = write
  x = execute
  s = shared
  p = private (copy on write)
  ```

-

  The *offset* field is the offset into the file/whatever; *dev* is the device (major:minor); *inode* is the inode on that device. 0 indicates that no inode is associated with the memory region, as would be the case with BSS (uninitialized data).

-

  The *pathname* field will usually be the file that is backing the mapping. For ELF files, you can easily coordinate with the *offset* field by looking at the Offset field in the ELF program headers (*readelf -l*).

-

  There are additional helpful pseudo-paths:

  - *\[stack\]*

    The initial process's (also known as the main thread's) stack.

  - *\[stack:*tid*\]* (from Linux 3.4 to Linux 4.4)

    A thread's stack (where the *tid* is a thread ID). It corresponds to the */proc/*pid*/task/*tid*/* path. This field was removed in Linux 4.5, since providing this information for a process with large numbers of threads is expensive.

  - *\[vdso\]*

    The virtual dynamically linked shared object. See [**vdso**(7)](/vdso/7.md).

  - *\[heap\]*

    The process's heap.

  - *\[anon:*name*\]* (since Linux 5.17)

    A named private anonymous mapping. Set with [**prctl**(2)](/prctl/2.md) **PR\_SET\_VMA\_ANON\_NAME**.

  - *\[anon\_shmem:*name*\]* (since Linux 6.2)

    A named shared anonymous mapping. Set with [**prctl**(2)](/prctl/2.md) **PR\_SET\_VMA\_ANON\_NAME**.

-

  If the *pathname* field is blank, this is an anonymous mapping as obtained via [**mmap**(2)](/mmap/2.md). There is no easy way to coordinate this back to a process's source, short of running it through [**gdb**(1)](/gdb/1.md), [**strace**(1)](/strace/1.md), or similar.

-

  *pathname* is shown unescaped except for newline characters, which are replaced with an octal escape sequence. As a result, it is not possible to determine whether the original pathname contained a newline character or the literal *\\012* character sequence.

-

  If the mapping is file-backed and the file has been deleted, the string " (deleted)" is appended to the pathname. Note that this is ambiguous too.

-

  Under Linux 2.0, there is no field giving pathname.

## SEE ALSO

[**proc**(5)](/proc/5.md)