User space and kernel space

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A modern computer operating system usually uses virtual memory to provide separate address spaces called user space and kernel space.^[a] Primarily, this separation serves to provide memory protection and hardware protection from malicious or errant software behaviour.

Kernel space is strictly reserved for running a privileged operating system kernel, kernel extensions, and most device drivers. In contrast, user space is the memory area where application software and some drivers execute, typically one address space per process.
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