CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM
The help text for CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM (lib/Kconfig.debug) reads
If this option is disabled, you allow userspace (root) access to all of memory, including kernel and userspace memory. Accidental access to this is obviously disastrous, but specific access can be used by people debugging the kernel. Note that with PAT support enabled, even in this case there are restrictions on /dev/mem use due to the cache aliasing requirements.
If this option is switched on, and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM=n, the /dev/mem file only allows userspace access to PCI space and the BIOS code and data regions. This is sufficient for dosemu and X and all common users of /dev/mem.