kernterm

KernTerm is a kernel-level terminal interface designed to provide interactive access to an operating system's kernel for development, debugging, and recovery tasks. It is distinct from user-space shells in that it runs with privileged access to kernel data structures and resources, enabling direct inspection and manipulation of kernel state even when normal services are unavailable or incomplete.

In typical deployments, KernTerm is activated by the kernel in response to a panic, during boot-time initialization, or via a dedicated console interface such as a serial port or debug console. It presents a minimal, text-based interface and relies on the kernel's console and I/O subsystems rather than a full TTY stack.

Common capabilities include memory and register dumps, stack backtraces, symbol lookups, and the ability to inspect or modify small kernel state under controlled safeguards. It typically supports a limited set of commands for listing, inspecting, and debugging kernel data structures, and may provide scripting hooks for automation.

Security and usage considerations: Access to KernTerm is restricted to developers and only enabled in secure, isolated environments such as recovery modes or trusted build configurations. In production systems, its availability is often minimized or disabled to reduce the risk of unauthorized kernel manipulation.