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When dealing with files in Linux, especially from scripts, you often encounter filenames that can disrupt your scripts' flow or even pose security risks. Filenames with newlines, spaces, or leading dashes can be particularly problematic. In this blog, we address some common questions on handling such filenames safely and provide further explanations with simple examples. A1: Filenames with newlines, spaces, or leading dashes can affect the expected behavior of bash scripts and commands. For example, spaces can lead to a filename being treated as multiple arguments, while leading dashes can make a filename be misinterpreted as an option flag. This can cause scripts to fail or, worse, accidentally delete or modify wrong files.