Deleting a directory with the same name as a shortcut deletes everything in the current working directory. Tested on: CYGWIN_NT-10.0-19044 3.3.5-341.x86_64 2022-05-13 12:27 UTC x86_64 Cygwin CYGWIN_NT-10.0-22000 3.3.5-341.x86_64 2022-05-13 12:27 UTC x86_64 Cygwin Script to reproduce the bug (also in the tar): #!/bin/bash echo 'EVERY FILE IN THE CURRENT WORKING DIRECTORY WILL BE DELETED!' read -p "Enter 'sure' to continue: " var echo $var | grep -q sure || exit 1 do_stuff () { mkdir foo touch Foo.lnk if [ -d foo ]; then rm -rf foo fi } do_stuff do_stuff # All files in the current working directory are now GONE!