A segmentation fault occurs when a program tries to access memory that it doesn’t have permission for or is not allocated. The operating system’s virtual memory management plays a crucial role in this. It maps the physical memory into logical segments, each with specific permissions and boundaries. When a program attempts to read/write outside its assigned segment, the OS detects this violation through its memory management unit (MMU) and terminates the program, resulting in a Segmentation Fault. This mechanism protects the integrity of the system by preventing unauthorized memory access.
