PowerShell / PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH

ssh wrongly rejects permissions on .ssh/config

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Description

"OpenSSH for Windows" version
v7.9.0.0p1-Beta

Server OperatingSystem
Windows Server 2016 Standard.

Client OperatingSystem
Windows Server 2016 Standard.

What is failing
ssh incorrectly rejects the permissions on .ssh/config

These systems have an additional user, "Windows Installer" (.\Installer), configured by domain policy, which inherits access to all files from SYSTEM. It literally cannot be removed from the permissions of a file, nor denied access. However, your SSH client rejects the permission .ssh/config anyway.

If you're going to overenforce your permissions checking, you need a flag to disable this behavior for users who actually want a working ssh client.

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the failure on Windows Server 2016 with the described Windows Installer access entry and the affected .ssh/config. Trace the OpenSSH client’s permission validation to identify why this inherited access is rejected. Done means the behavior is corrected or a documented opt-out flag allows the configuration to work without weakening the default checks.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
operating-systems, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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