Part 6/7:
This raises an interesting question: would Rust have caught this bug? Potentially, yes. Rust's runtime copy checks would have likely turned this vulnerability into a denial-of-service condition rather than allowing an attacker to gain control of the control flow. However, Rust still wouldn't have prevented the initial buffer overflow condition, and the resulting denial-of-service could still be problematic.
Ultimately, this bug highlights the importance of understanding how computers work at a fundamental level, which is why I'm a strong advocate for learning low-level languages like C. My website, LowLevel Academy, offers courses that teach you C, assembly, and how computers work from the ground up. I believe you can't write efficient, effective code without this foundational knowledge.