How to fix Bad owner or permissions on ~/.ssh/config in Git

First, examine the current state of your SSH config file and directory:

ls -la ~/.ssh/config
ls -ld ~/.ssh

The output should show:
- Owner: your username (not root)
- Permissions: -rw------- (600) for config file
- Directory permissions: drwx------ (700) for .ssh folder

Set the correct restrictive permissions on the config file:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config

Also ensure the .ssh directory itself has correct permissions:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh

These commands set owner-only read/write access, which SSH requires.

If the file is owned by the wrong user, change ownership to your account:

chown $USER:$USER ~/.ssh/config

To fix ownership of the entire .ssh directory:

chown -R $USER:$USER ~/.ssh

You may need to use sudo if the files are currently owned by root.

On Windows, you need to modify NTFS permissions:

1. Right-click on the .ssh folder in your user directory
2. Select "Properties" -> "Security" tab -> "Advanced"
3. Click "Disable inheritance" and choose "Convert inherited permissions"
4. Remove all users except SYSTEM and your user account
5. Check "Replace all child object permission entries..."
6. Click "Apply" and "OK"

For your user, ensure you have "Full control" permissions.

Test that SSH can now read your config file:

ssh -T [email protected]

Or for GitLab:

ssh -T [email protected]

You should see a welcome message instead of the permissions error.