Crash when skinning data references a nonexistent vertex

Hemaris noted that when loading the mesh "a_bear2_skin.nif" from a Morrowind Optimization Patch PR; OpenMW crashes when equipping it in first person, but apparently it doesn't crash in 0.48.

Doesn't crash in third person btw but causes a visual artifact, and when I try to use the inventory then it crashes.

Tested on latest build, (02402b3e).

Here's the crash dump:

openmw-crash.dmp

The mesh:

Crashy Mesh.zip

The console command to add the item:

player->additem bm_bear_cuirass_snow 1

The relevant MOP PR if curious:

https://github.com/mop-org/morrowind-optimization-patch/pull/78

Edited by Abdu Sharif