Lightning has two data lanes and this cable looks like it’s missing one of them. IIRC devices can use either lane depending on orientation of the plug so that would explain why data transfer was working for you. Does it stop working if you rotate the plug?
It’s not related to Windows or Linux, but as the article notes, Apple devices that use UEFI are not vulnerable (and current ones don’t use it anymore and therefore aren’t vulnerable either), so I guess that’s where the “Windows or Linux” comes from.