diff --git a/scripts/start-container b/scripts/start-container
index b00870f..a921e93 100644
--- a/scripts/start-container
+++ b/scripts/start-container
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ set -eu
 echo "=========================================="
 echo "  docker-bastion starting"
 echo "=========================================="
+
+# Trust every git repo regardless of UID — the bastion is a single-tenant
+# isolated container, and ownership-mismatch on a bind-mounted repo
+# (host uid != bastion uid) is the normal case here, not an attack vector.
+# Without this, git refuses with "fatal: detected dubious ownership".
+git config --system --add safe.directory '*' 2>/dev/null || true
 echo "Date:        $(date)"
 echo "Hostname:    $(hostname)"
 echo "OpenSSH:     $(/usr/sbin/sshd -V 2>&1 | head -1 || echo n/a)"
@@ -87,7 +93,12 @@ if [ "$file_keys" -eq 0 ] && [ "$dir_keys" -eq 0 ]; then
     echo "        until then every SSH attempt will fail with 'publickey denied'."
 fi
 
-chown -R "${SSH_USER}:${SSH_USER}" "$(dirname "$AUTH_FILE")"
+# chown -R is best-effort: if the caller bind-mounts read-only files into
+# /home/agent/.ssh/ (e.g. an id_rsa for git push from FORCE_COMMAND), chown
+# on those will fail with "Read-only file system" — which under `set -e`
+# previously killed the boot script. The dir itself + the file we just
+# wrote are what matter; everything else is the caller's business.
+chown -R "${SSH_USER}:${SSH_USER}" "$(dirname "$AUTH_FILE")" 2>/dev/null || true
 chmod 700 "$(dirname "$AUTH_FILE")"
 chmod 600 "$AUTH_FILE"
 
@@ -117,6 +128,15 @@ cat > /etc/bastion/force-command <<'WRAPPER'
 # right place. sshd sets this already; busybox httpd's CGI doesn't, so
 # without this fix `git push` complains about /root/.config/git/* perms.
 export HOME=/home/agent
+
+# If a deploy SSH key is mounted at the conventional location, point git
+# at it explicitly. Setting HOME alone isn't enough when the CGI runs as
+# root (HTTP_AS_ROOT=1) — ssh ignores HOME-based ~/.ssh/ lookup in that
+# path and silently uses /root/.ssh/, which is empty.
+if [ -f /home/agent/.ssh/id_rsa ]; then
+    export GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -o IdentityFile=/home/agent/.ssh/id_rsa -o UserKnownHostsFile=/home/agent/.ssh/known_hosts -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new"
+fi
+
 exec sh -c "$(cat /etc/bastion/force-command.cmd)"
 WRAPPER
 chmod 0755 /etc/bastion/force-command
@@ -196,7 +216,21 @@ CGI
     chmod 0755 /var/www/cgi-bin/run
     # -c CONFFILE = auth + content-type rules; httpd reads it as root before
     # dropping to -u USER. CGI scripts then run as USER.
-    httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www -u "${SSH_USER}" -c /etc/bastion/httpd.conf &
+    #
+    # Set HTTP_AS_ROOT=1 to skip the -u drop, so httpd (and the CGI it
+    # spawns) run as root. Use this when FORCE_COMMAND is a deploy-style
+    # script that needs full filesystem write + docker-socket access +
+    # arbitrary chown — busybox httpd's `-u USER` drop does setuid/setgid
+    # but not setgroups, so supplementary groups (e.g. dockerhost for the
+    # mounted /var/run/docker.sock) don't reach the CGI even when the user
+    # is a member on paper. Bastion already has socket = host root, so
+    # this doesn't enlarge the trust envelope.
+    if [ "${HTTP_AS_ROOT:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+        echo "  HTTP_AS_ROOT=1 — httpd + CGI run as root"
+        httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www -c /etc/bastion/httpd.conf &
+    else
+        httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www -u "${SSH_USER}" -c /etc/bastion/httpd.conf &
+    fi
     HTTP_PID=$!
     echo "  httpd PID ${HTTP_PID}, endpoint: /cgi-bin/run (basic auth)"
 
@@ -217,7 +251,12 @@ printf 'Content-Type: text/plain\r\nCache-Control: no-cache\r\nX-Accel-Buffering
 exec /etc/bastion/force-command 2>&1
 CGI
     chmod 0755 /var/www/cgi-bin/run
-    httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www -u "${SSH_USER}" &
+    if [ "${HTTP_AS_ROOT:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+        echo "  HTTP_AS_ROOT=1 — httpd + CGI run as root"
+        httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www &
+    else
+        httpd -f -p "${HTTP_PORT}" -h /var/www -u "${SSH_USER}" &
+    fi
     HTTP_PID=$!
     echo "  httpd PID ${HTTP_PID}, endpoint: /cgi-bin/run (bearer token)"