Why does SSH say 'Permissions 0644 for private key are too open'?

How it was checked: Standard OpenSSH behavior; chmod 600 verified to set the required mode.

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Fix

OpenSSH refuses to use a private key that other users can read. Fix: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/<keyfile> (and chmod 700 ~/.ssh). On Windows, remove other users' access in the file's Security settings (or with icacls). Public .pub files can stay 644.

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