How to fix fatal: detected dubious ownership in repository at '/path/to/repo' in Git

First, check who owns the repository and who is running the command:

# Check repository owner
ls -la /path/to/repo/.git

# Check current user
whoami
id

The owner shown by ls should match your current user. If they differ, you've confirmed the ownership mismatch.

The most common fix is to tell Git to trust this specific repository:

# Add specific repository to safe list
git config --global --add safe.directory /path/to/repo

Replace /path/to/repo with the actual absolute path shown in the error message.

For Windows users, use forward slashes and the full path:

git config --global --add safe.directory C:/Users/username/project

Important: Use the exact path from the error message. Git resolves paths canonically, so relative paths or paths with symlinks may not match.

If possible, change the repository ownership to match your user. This is the most secure solution:

On Linux/macOS:

# Change ownership of the entire repository
sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) /path/to/repo

On Windows (run as Administrator):

takeown /F C:\path\to\repo /R /D Y
icacls C:\path\to\repo /grant %USERNAME%:F /T

This is safer than marking the directory as safe because it eliminates the ownership discrepancy entirely.

If you're on a single-user machine and understand the security implications, you can disable this check entirely:

git config --global --add safe.directory '*'

Warning: This trusts ALL repositories on your system, including potentially malicious ones. Only use this on:
- Personal development machines you fully control
- Dedicated CI runners with no shared access
- Containers with no access to untrusted repositories

For CI/CD environments, use the --system flag instead of --global:

git config --system --add safe.directory '*'

GitHub Actions example:

- name: Trust repository
  run: git config --global --add safe.directory ${{ github.workspace }}

GitLab CI example:

before_script:
  - git config --global --add safe.directory "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"

For container-based runners, you may need to add this to the container's global Git config.

When running Git in Docker with mounted volumes, ownership often differs between host and container:

Option 1: Match the container user to the host user:

docker run --user $(id -u):$(id -g) -v /path/to/repo:/repo myimage

Option 2: Add safe.directory in your Dockerfile or entrypoint:

RUN git config --system --add safe.directory '*'

Option 3: Set GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM (for specific cases):

docker run -e GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/repo -v /path/to/repo:/repo myimage

After applying your chosen fix, verify that Git commands work:

# Should no longer show the error
cd /path/to/repo
git status

# View your safe.directory settings
git config --show-origin --get-all safe.directory

If you need to remove a safe.directory entry later:

# Remove specific entry
git config --global --unset safe.directory /path/to/repo

# Remove all entries
git config --global --unset-all safe.directory