Non-pageable memory

Normal allocated memory can be paged to disk at the whim of the operating system. This can be a problem for sensitive information like passwords, keys and secrets.

The Gcr library holds passwords and keys in non-pageable, or locked memory. This is only possible if the OS contains support for it.

The set of gcr_secure_memory_*() functions allow applications to use secure memory to hold passwords and other sensitive information.