Wireshark dissectors (protocol decoders) are basically all written in C, and anyone sending packets can pick a dissector.
Media codecs pretty much, single-handedly even, drove about a new era of defenses and mitigations in Android: https://blog.isosceles.com/the-legacy-of-stagefright / https://archive.vn/x3d0Y
"Why don't we unpack malware in the kernel" - "And so the search for intelligent life continues..."