This error occurs when Git cannot write to the .git/objects directory due to file ownership or permission issues. The most common cause is running Git commands with sudo or as a different user, which creates objects owned by root that your regular user cannot modify.
When you run a Git operation (push, pull, commit, fetch), Git needs to store objects (blobs, trees, commits) in the `.git/objects` directory. This error appears when your current user lacks write permission to that directory or its contents. The root cause is almost always a **permission mismatch**: some files in `.git/objects` are owned by a different user (typically root) than your current user. This commonly happens when you: 1. Run `git` commands with `sudo` by mistake 2. Have multiple users working on the same repository 3. Run Git operations inside Docker containers as root while the host filesystem is mapped 4. Use CI/CD pipelines where the build agent runs as a different user This is not a Git bug but a filesystem permission issue. Git is simply respecting Unix permission semantics—if you don't own the file, you cannot write to it.
First, examine the permissions and ownership of your Git objects directory:
ls -la .git/objects/Look for files or directories owned by root or another user. You'll see output like:
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 15 10:30 pack
drwxr-xr-x 2 youruser youruser 4096 Jan 15 10:28 infoIf you see mixed ownership, that's the problem.
The standard fix is to change ownership of the entire .git directory to your current user:
sudo chown -R $(whoami):$(whoami) .git/Or more explicitly:
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.git"This recursively changes all files and directories under .git to be owned by your user.
For specific objects directory only:
sudo chown -R $(id -un):$(id -gn) .git/objects/After changing ownership, verify the operation now works:
# Check ownership is correct
ls -la .git/objects/
# Test a Git operation
git status
git fetchIf you were trying to push, retry:
git push origin mainIf multiple users need to access the same repository, configure Git to manage permissions automatically:
git config core.sharedRepository groupThis tells Git to make new objects group-writable. For new repositories, initialize with:
git init --shared=groupAvailable sharing modes:
- group (or true): Group-writable, allows users in the same group to push
- all (or world): Readable by all users, group-writable
- umask (or false): Use default umask (default behavior)
- 0xxx: Explicit octal permission mode
For repositories shared between multiple users, ensure proper group setup:
# Create a dedicated group (if needed)
sudo groupadd gitusers
# Add users to the group
sudo usermod -aG gitusers alice
sudo usermod -aG gitusers bob
# Change group ownership of the repository
sudo chgrp -R gitusers .git/
# Make existing files group-writable
sudo chmod -R g+rwX .git/
# Set the setgid bit so new files inherit the group
find .git -type d -exec chmod g+s {} +Users may need to log out and back in for group changes to take effect.
### Docker Container Issues
When running Git inside Docker containers with mounted volumes, the container often runs as root while your host filesystem belongs to your regular user. Solutions:
1. Run container as your user:
docker run --user $(id -u):$(id -g) -v $(pwd):/repo myimage git pull2. Use a non-root user in Dockerfile:
RUN useradd -m appuser
USER appuser### WSL1 vs WSL2
On WSL1, mounted Windows filesystems (like /mnt/c/) have known permission issues that cause this error. The recommended solution is to upgrade to WSL2:
wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2### Bare Repositories (Git Servers)
For bare repositories used as Git servers, always initialize with shared permissions:
git init --bare --shared=group /srv/git/myproject.git### NFS/Network Filesystems
On NFS mounts, ensure:
1. UID/GID mapping is consistent between client and server
2. The no_root_squash option is NOT set unless absolutely necessary
3. Consider using git config core.sharedRepository group for multi-user access
### Preventing Future Issues
Add a pre-commit hook to warn about sudo usage:
# .git/hooks/pre-commit
if [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ]; then
echo "WARNING: Running git as root. This may cause permission issues."
fi### CI/CD Pipelines
Ensure your CI runner user owns the workspace:
# GitLab CI example
before_script:
- sudo chown -R $(whoami) .kex_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host
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