Memory corruption occurs when a program unintentionally alters its own memory space, leading to unpredictable behavior. This can happen due to bugs in the code, such as accessing memory that has already been freed or writing data beyond the allocated memory limits. When memory corruption occurs, it can cause crashes, data loss, or security vulnerabilities. Attackers may exploit these vulnerabilities to execute malicious code, making it a significant concern in software development and cybersecurity. Proper coding practices and tools can help detect and prevent memory corruption issues.