title: Meaning of /dev/ashmem (deleted) records in process maps
body: <p>I'm wondering what is the meaning of next records in <code>/proc/&lt;pid&gt;/maps</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>...
  cdbc2000-cdbc6000 rw-p 00000000 00:04 1290888                            /dev/ashmem/dalvik-large object space allocation (deleted)
  cdbc6000-cdbcf000 rw-p 00000000 00:04 1290887                            /dev/ashmem/dalvik-large object space allocation (deleted)
  cdbcf000-cdbdf000 rw-p 00000000 00:04 1290886                            /dev/ashmem/dalvik-large object space allocation (deleted)
  ...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Especially what does <code>(deleted)</code> mean? Is this memory range is held by something within process and should be released later or these records are just markers and there is no associated physical memory ? I.e. may plain call to <code>mmap()</code> return mapping that intersects such ranges?</p>
  
  <p>P.S. range names may differ slightly but they always contain <code>/dev/ashmem ... (deleted)</code>.</p>