Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature of modern operating systems and CPUs intended to prevent the execution of code/data located in a memory region not explicitly marked as executable.
Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature of modern operating systems and CPUs intended to prevent the execution of code/data located in a memory region not explicitly marked as executable. One of the usual ways of accomplishing this in hardware is by use of the NX bit. Modern versions of Windows, OS X, and Unix-like operating systems all support DEP: Windows support was instituted in Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 2004, in all versions of OS X running on x86 processors in 2006, and in the 2.8.6 version of the Linux kernel in 2004.
A limited form of DEP is available without hardware support, but it is less effective. DEP provides some protection against attacks but, like any other individual security feature, DEP alone is not sufficient to protect against all forms of attack. Other security features such as address space layout randomization, structured exception handler overwrite protection, and Mandatory Integrity Control, can be used in conjunction with DEP.
The name "Data Execution Prevention" is primarily used in the Windows contexts: other OSes may use different terms for the feature.
