Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] writes:
Subject: [PATCH] apply: refuse touching a file beyond symlink
Because Git tracks symbolic links as symbolic links, a path that has
a symbolic link in its leading part (e.g. path/to/dir being a
symbolic link to somewhere else, be it inside or outside the working
tree) can never appear in a patch that validly apply, unless the
same patch first removes the symbolic link.
I should rephrase the above to make it more readable.
... its leading part (e.g. path/to/dir/file, where path/to/dir is a
symbolic link to somewhere else, ...
is what I meant to say.