Virtual memory map with 4 level page tables: 0000000000000000 - 00007fffffffffff (=47 bits) user space, different per mm hole caused by [47:63] sign extension ffff800000000000 - ffff87ffffffffff (=43 bits) guard hole, reserved for hypervisor ffff880000000000 - ffffc7ffffffffff (=64 TB) direct mapping of all phys. memory ffffc80000000000 - ffffc8ffffffffff (=40 bits) hole ffffc90000000000 - ffffe8ffffffffff (=45 bits) vmalloc/ioremap space ffffe90000000000 - ffffe9ffffffffff (=40 bits) hole ffffea0000000000 - ffffeaffffffffff (=40 bits) virtual memory map (1TB) ... unused hole ... ffffec0000000000 - fffffbffffffffff (=44 bits) kasan shadow memory (16TB) ... unused hole ... fffffe8000000000 - fffffeffffffffff (=39 bits) cpu_entry_area mapping ffffff0000000000 - ffffff7fffffffff (=39 bits) %esp fixup stacks ... unused hole ... ffffffef00000000 - fffffffeffffffff (=64 GB) EFI region mapping space ... unused hole ... ffffffff80000000 - ffffffff9fffffff (=512 MB) kernel text mapping, from phys 0 ffffffffa0000000 - [fixmap start] (~1526 MB) module mapping space (variable) [fixmap start] - ffffffffff5fffff kernel-internal fixmap range ffffffffff600000 - ffffffffff600fff (=4 kB) legacy vsyscall ABI ffffffffffe00000 - ffffffffffffffff (=2 MB) unused hole Virtual memory map with 5 level page tables: 0000000000000000 - 00ffffffffffffff (=56 bits) user space, different per mm hole caused by [56:63] sign extension ff00000000000000 - ff0fffffffffffff (=52 bits) guard hole, reserved for hypervisor ff10000000000000 - ff8fffffffffffff (=55 bits) direct mapping of all phys. memory ff90000000000000 - ff91ffffffffffff (=49 bits) hole ff92000000000000 - ffd1ffffffffffff (=54 bits) vmalloc/ioremap space ffd2000000000000 - ffd3ffffffffffff (=49 bits) hole ffd4000000000000 - ffd5ffffffffffff (=49 bits) virtual memory map (512TB) ... unused hole ... ffdf000000000000 - fffffc0000000000 (=53 bits) kasan shadow memory (8PB) ... unused hole ... fffffe8000000000 - fffffeffffffffff (=39 bits) cpu_entry_area mapping ffffff0000000000 - ffffff7fffffffff (=39 bits) %esp fixup stacks ... unused hole ... ffffffef00000000 - fffffffeffffffff (=64 GB) EFI region mapping space ... unused hole ... ffffffff80000000 - ffffffff9fffffff (=512 MB) kernel text mapping, from phys 0 ffffffffa0000000 - [fixmap start] (~1526 MB) module mapping space [fixmap start] - ffffffffff5fffff kernel-internal fixmap range ffffffffff600000 - ffffffffff600fff (=4 kB) legacy vsyscall ABI ffffffffffe00000 - ffffffffffffffff (=2 MB) unused hole Architecture defines a 64-bit virtual address. Implementations can support less. Currently supported are 48- and 57-bit virtual addresses. Bits 63 through to the most-significant implemented bit are sign extended. This causes hole between user space and kernel addresses if you interpret them as unsigned. The direct mapping covers all memory in the system up to the highest memory address (this means in some cases it can also include PCI memory holes). vmalloc space is lazily synchronized into the different PML4/PML5 pages of the processes using the page fault handler, with init_top_pgt as reference. We map EFI runtime services in the 'efi_pgd' PGD in a 64Gb large virtual memory window (this size is arbitrary, it can be raised later if needed). The mappings are not part of any other kernel PGD and are only available during EFI runtime calls. The module mapping space size changes based on the CONFIG requirements for the following fixmap section. Note that if CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_MEMORY is enabled, the direct mapping of all physical memory, vmalloc/ioremap space and virtual memory map are randomized. Their order is preserved but their base will be offset early at boot time.