What potential pitfalls should be considered when using the unlink() function in PHP to delete a file?

When using the unlink() function in PHP to delete a file, potential pitfalls to consider include accidentally deleting important files, lack of error handling which can lead to unexpected behavior, and potential security vulnerabilities if user input is not properly sanitized. 

$filename = "file_to_delete.txt";

if (file_exists($filename)) {
    if (unlink($filename)) {
        echo "File deleted successfully.";
    } else {
        echo "Error deleting file.";
    }
} else {
    echo "File does not exist.";
}

Keywords

unlink() file deletion security vulnerabilities error handling file permissions

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