Files containing colon appear in Explorer but cannot be opened or renamed

[piiskop]

Description

A file created on the Linux server with a colon in its name is visible through an SSHFS-Win mounted drive in Windows Explorer, but Explorer cannot open, copy, attach, or rename it.

For example, the server-side filename is:

Re: example.eml

Explorer displays the colon using the private-use replacement character (visually similar to Re example.eml). The directory entry remains visible, but attempts to access or rename it fail with the Windows message equivalent to:

Item not found. This item is no longer located in the mapped drive. Verify the item's location and try again.

A Windows file picker can also display the file but then reports that it cannot find it.

Steps to reproduce

1. On the Linux/SSH server, create a file whose name contains a colon, for example Re: example.eml.
2. Mount the directory in Windows using SSHFS-Win.
3. Open the mounted directory in Windows Explorer.
4. Attempt to open, copy, or rename the file.

Actual behavior

The file is listed, but Explorer and Windows file pickers cannot address it. Renaming from Explorer also fails with "Item not found."

Expected behavior

The escaped filename shown by SSHFS-Win should remain addressable for open, copy, and rename operations, or unsupported filenames should be mapped consistently to a reversible Windows-safe representation.

Environment

• Windows NT 10.0.26200.0
• SSHFS-Win 2021 (x64) 3.5.20357
• WinFsp 2024 Beta2 2.1.24255
• Remote filesystem: Linux filesystem accessed over SSHFS
• Reproduced with an .eml file containing a colon in its filename

Workaround

Rename the file on the Linux/server side or save a new copy with a Windows-safe filename.