diff --git a/include/mango/handle.h b/include/mango/handle.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ff62d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mango/handle.h
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#ifndef MANGO_HANDLE_H_
+#define MANGO_HANDLE_H_
+
+#include <mango/bitmap.h>
+#include <mango/status.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+/* subtract 32 bytes to account for the handle bitmap */
+#define HANDLES_PER_TABLE ((4096 - 32) / sizeof(struct handle))
+#define REFS_PER_TABLE    ((4096 - 64) / sizeof(struct handle_table *))
+
+typedef uint32_t kern_handle_t;
+
+struct object;
+
+struct handle {
+	union {
+		struct object *h_object;
+		uint64_t __x;
+	};
+
+	uint64_t h_flags;
+};
+
+struct handle_table {
+	union {
+		struct {
+			/* bitmap tracks which bits in t_handle_list are
+			 * allocated */
+			DECLARE_BITMAP(t_handle_map, HANDLES_PER_TABLE);
+			struct handle t_handle_list[HANDLES_PER_TABLE];
+		} t_handles;
+
+		struct {
+			/* bitmap tracks which sub-tables are fully-allocated */
+			DECLARE_BITMAP(t_subtable_map, REFS_PER_TABLE);
+			struct handle_table *t_subtable_list[REFS_PER_TABLE];
+		} t_subtables;
+	};
+};
+
+extern struct handle_table *handle_table_create(void);
+extern void handle_table_destroy(struct handle_table *tab);
+
+extern kern_status_t handle_table_alloc_handle(
+	struct handle_table *tab,
+	struct handle **out_slot,
+	kern_handle_t *out_handle);
+extern void handle_table_free_handle(
+	struct handle_table *tab,
+	kern_handle_t handle);
+extern struct handle *handle_table_get_handle(
+	struct handle_table *tab,
+	kern_handle_t handle);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/kernel/handle.c b/kernel/handle.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8dd8b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/handle.c
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+#include <mango/handle.h>
+#include <mango/libc/string.h>
+#include <mango/object.h>
+#include <mango/vm.h>
+
+/* depth=3 gives a maximum of ~66.6 million handles */
+#define MAX_TABLE_DEPTH 3
+
+static struct vm_cache handle_table_cache = {
+	.c_name = "handle_table",
+	.c_obj_size = sizeof(struct handle_table),
+};
+
+struct handle_table *handle_table_create(void)
+{
+	if (!VM_CACHE_INITIALISED(&handle_table_cache)) {
+		vm_cache_init(&handle_table_cache);
+	}
+
+	struct handle_table *out
+		= vm_cache_alloc(&handle_table_cache, VM_NORMAL);
+	if (!out) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	memset(out, 0x0, sizeof *out);
+
+	return out;
+}
+
+void handle_table_destroy(struct handle_table *tab)
+{
+}
+
+static kern_status_t decode_handle_indices(
+	kern_handle_t handle,
+	unsigned int indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH])
+{
+	handle >>= 2;
+	for (int i = 0; i < MAX_TABLE_DEPTH; i++) {
+		unsigned int div = (i > 0 ? REFS_PER_TABLE : HANDLES_PER_TABLE);
+
+		unsigned int v = handle % div;
+		indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH - i - 1] = v;
+		handle /= div;
+	}
+
+	return handle == 0 ? KERN_OK : KERN_INVALID_ARGUMENT;
+}
+
+static kern_status_t encode_handle_indices(
+	unsigned int indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH],
+	kern_handle_t *out_handle)
+{
+	kern_handle_t handle = 0;
+	unsigned int mul = 1;
+
+	for (int i = MAX_TABLE_DEPTH - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+		unsigned int v = indices[i] * mul;
+		handle += v;
+		mul *= REFS_PER_TABLE;
+	}
+
+	handle <<= 2;
+
+	*out_handle = handle;
+	return KERN_OK;
+}
+
+kern_status_t handle_table_alloc_handle(
+	struct handle_table *tab,
+	struct handle **out_slot,
+	kern_handle_t *out_handle)
+{
+	int i;
+	unsigned int indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH] = {0};
+
+	for (i = 0; i < MAX_TABLE_DEPTH - 1; i++) {
+		unsigned int next_index = bitmap_lowest_clear(
+			tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_map,
+			REFS_PER_TABLE);
+
+		if (next_index == BITMAP_NPOS) {
+			return KERN_NO_ENTRY;
+		}
+
+		struct handle_table *next
+			= tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_list[next_index];
+		if (!next) {
+			next = handle_table_create();
+			tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_list[next_index] = next;
+		}
+
+		if (!next) {
+			return KERN_NO_MEMORY;
+		}
+
+		indices[i] = next_index;
+		tab = next;
+	}
+
+	unsigned int handle_index = bitmap_lowest_clear(
+		tab->t_handles.t_handle_map,
+		HANDLES_PER_TABLE);
+	if (handle_index == BITMAP_NPOS) {
+		return KERN_NO_ENTRY;
+	}
+
+	bitmap_set(tab->t_handles.t_handle_map, handle_index);
+	memset(&tab->t_handles.t_handle_list[handle_index],
+	       0x0,
+	       sizeof(struct handle));
+
+	indices[i] = handle_index;
+
+	*out_slot = &tab->t_handles.t_handle_list[handle_index];
+	return encode_handle_indices(indices, out_handle);
+}
+
+void handle_table_free_handle(struct handle_table *tab, kern_handle_t handle)
+{
+	unsigned int indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH];
+	if (decode_handle_indices(handle, indices) != KERN_OK) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	int i;
+	for (i = 0; i < MAX_TABLE_DEPTH - 1; i++) {
+		struct handle_table *next
+			= tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_list[indices[i]];
+		if (!next) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		bitmap_clear(tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_map, indices[i]);
+		tab = next;
+	}
+
+	unsigned int handle_index = indices[i];
+	bitmap_clear(tab->t_handles.t_handle_map, handle_index);
+	struct handle *handle_entry
+		= &tab->t_handles.t_handle_list[handle_index];
+
+	if (handle_entry->h_object) {
+		object_remove_handle(handle_entry->h_object);
+	}
+
+	memset(handle_entry, 0x0, sizeof *handle_entry);
+}
+
+struct handle *handle_table_get_handle(
+	struct handle_table *tab,
+	kern_handle_t handle)
+{
+	unsigned int indices[MAX_TABLE_DEPTH];
+	if (decode_handle_indices(handle, indices) != KERN_OK) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	int i;
+	for (i = 0; i < MAX_TABLE_DEPTH - 1; i++) {
+		struct handle_table *next
+			= tab->t_subtables.t_subtable_list[indices[i]];
+		if (!next) {
+			return NULL;
+		}
+
+		tab = next;
+	}
+
+	unsigned int handle_index = indices[i];
+	if (!bitmap_check(tab->t_handles.t_handle_map, handle_index)) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	return &tab->t_handles.t_handle_list[handle_index];
+}