What is "grsecurity"

grsecurity is a set of patches for the Linux kernel which emphasize security enhancements. The patches are typically used by computer systems which accept remote connections from untrusted locations, such as web servers and systems offering shell access to its users. Grsecurity provides a collection of security features to the Linux kernel, including address space protection, enhanced auditing and process control. Work on grsecurity began in February 2001 as a port of Openwall Project's security-enhancing patches for version 2.4 of the Linux kernel mainline. The first release of grsecurity was for the Linux kernel 2.4.1.