9.2.0.5+ prevents external tables reading from hard/symbolic link

Hello, list.

Starting in version 9.2.0.5 it is no longer possible to create a external table reading from a file that is a hard or symbolic link (*nix) or an UNC path (win). If you try to do that, you will get a error stack like:

SQL> select * from ext_link;
select * from ext_link
*
ERROR at line 1:

ORA-29913: error in executing ODCIEXTTABLEFETCH callout
ORA-29400: data cartridge error
KUP-04001: error opening file /path/link_to_file.txt
ORA-06512: at "SYS.ORACLE_LOADER", line 14
ORA-06512: at line 1

Although it is easy to overcome by changing OS routines, I'd like to know if someone here have already figured out this puzzle by setting an special event or undocumented parameter. If yes, do you feel comfortable to use it in a production environment?

Best regards,
Luis

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