> create a reverse shell based on a CVE If you're talking about exploiting buffer overflows etc, it is pretty much imperative to learn C at the very least, and

> create a reverse shell based on a CVE If you're talking about exploiting buffer overflows etc, it is pretty much imperative to learn C at the very least, and probably some assembly as well. So many of these type of exploits are in C code, and exploitable programs (not infrequently including the OS itself) written in C are so pervasive, so you'd need to have a good understanding of it. It's worth noting that even many experienced C programmers don't pursue this kind of research; it takes a special kind of mindset and focus to read enough source code in context to recognize where the program may read untrusted input from the network, neglect to bounds check/sanitize it, etc. Most C programmers I know are busy trying to write code, not exploit it, and the better ones are also kept busy trying to ensure they are not making the kind of mistakes that lead to remote exploits (or patching them), since it is so "get it wrong" in C.