What is a buffer overflow and how do I cause one?

Question

I have heard about a buffer overflow and I would like to know how to cause one.

Can someone show me a small buffer overflow example? New(And what they are used for?)

Answer 1

A buffer overflow is just writing past the end of a buffer:

int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{
    char buf[10];
    memset(buf, 0, 11);
    return 0;
}