diff --git a/references/check-catalog.md b/references/check-catalog.md
index 592a8aa..c47733f 100644
--- a/references/check-catalog.md
+++ b/references/check-catalog.md
@@ -246,6 +246,12 @@ severity, description, and remediation.
 - **Description:** Changes to permission rules are not logged. Malicious permission escalation cannot be detected after the fact.
 - **Remediation:** Enable audit logging for permission changes.
 
+### CHK-PRM-013 -- SSH private key has overly permissive permissions
+- **Severity:** Critical
+- **Description:** SSH private key files (e.g., `~/.ssh/id_rsa`, `~/.ssh/id_ed25519`) have permissions more permissive than 600. SSH clients often refuse to use keys with incorrect permissions, and they can be read by other users on the system.
+- **Remediation:** Set SSH key permissions to 600 (read/write owner only): `chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa`
+- **Auto-fix:** `chmod 600 "$KEY_PATH"`
+
 ---
 
 ## Cron (CHK-CRN)
diff --git a/scripts/helpers/test_integration.sh b/scripts/helpers/test_integration.sh
index ca88dcd..e423f5f 100755
--- a/scripts/helpers/test_integration.sh
+++ b/scripts/helpers/test_integration.sh
@@ -308,6 +308,55 @@ test_chmod_600() {
     [[ "$perms" == "600" ]]
 }
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test: CHK-PRM-013 auto-fix (SSH private key permissions)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+test_prm_013() {
+    # Create mock SSH directory
+    local ssh_dir="${TEST_DIR}/.ssh"
+    mkdir -p "$ssh_dir"
+
+    # Create test SSH private keys
+    local test_key="${ssh_dir}/id_test_rsa"
+    local test_pem="${ssh_dir}/test.pem"
+
+    cat > "$test_key" <<'EOF'
+-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
+fake key content
+-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
+EOF
+
+    cat > "$test_pem" <<'EOF'
+-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
+fake pem content
+-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
+EOF
+
+    for key_file in "$test_key" "$test_pem"; do
+        # Set insecure permissions
+        chmod 644 "$key_file"
+
+        # Run the auto-fix command
+        chmod 600 "$key_file"
+
+        # Verify permissions were fixed
+        local perms
+        if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
+            perms=$(stat -f "%Lp" "$key_file")
+        else
+            perms=$(stat -c "%a" "$key_file")
+        fi
+
+        if [[ "$perms" != "600" ]]; then
+            return 1
+        fi
+    done
+    # NOTE: This test verifies the chmod auto-fix command works correctly, but
+    # does not exercise the scanner's find/detect logic itself. This is
+    # consistent with other integration tests in this file which focus on
+    # auto-fix command validation rather than scanner detection coverage.
+}
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Main test execution
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -336,6 +385,7 @@ run_test "CHK-CFG-010: Enable sensitive data redaction" "test_cfg_010"
 run_test "CHK-CFG-011: Enable browser restrictions" "test_cfg_011"
 run_test "CHK-CFG-012: Disable network discovery" "test_cfg_012"
 run_test "File permissions: chmod 600" "test_chmod_600"
+run_test "CHK-PRM-013: Fix SSH key permissions" "test_prm_013"
 
 echo "─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────"
 echo ""
diff --git a/scripts/scan_permissions.sh b/scripts/scan_permissions.sh
index 168f4e1..94df089 100755
--- a/scripts/scan_permissions.sh
+++ b/scripts/scan_permissions.sh
@@ -646,6 +646,62 @@ check_cloud_sync() {
   fi
 }
 
+# ─── CHK-PRM-013: SSH private key permissions ───────────────────────────────
+
+check_ssh_keys() {
+  log_info "CHK-PRM-013: Checking SSH private key permissions"
+
+  local ssh_dir="$HOME/.ssh"
+  local found=0
+
+  if [[ ! -d "$ssh_dir" ]]; then
+    add_finding "CHK-PRM-013" "info" \
+      "No SSH directory found" \
+      "No ~/.ssh directory exists on this system" "" "" ""
+    return
+  fi
+
+  # Search for id_* files and *.pem files
+  while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do
+    found=1
+    local perms
+    perms="$(get_perms "$f")"
+    [[ -z "$perms" ]] && continue
+
+    if [[ "$perms" != "600" ]]; then
+      # Validate filename contains only safe characters before using in auto_fix.
+      # The safe_exec whitelist pattern for chmod requires paths matching
+      # [a-zA-Z0-9/._-]+, so we must not emit auto_fix for filenames with
+      # characters outside that set (e.g., spaces, quotes, shell metacharacters).
+      # Standard SSH key names (id_rsa, id_ed25519, *.pem) always pass this check.
+      local auto_fix_cmd="" remediation_msg="Manual fix required: chmod 600 [file]"
+      if [[ "$f" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9/._-]+$ ]]; then
+        auto_fix_cmd="chmod 600 $f"
+        remediation_msg="Run: chmod 600 $f"
+      fi
+      add_finding "CHK-PRM-013" "critical" \
+        "SSH private key has insecure permissions" \
+        "SSH private keys must be chmod 600 or SSH clients will refuse to use them. Current: $perms" \
+        "$f mode $perms" \
+        "$remediation_msg" \
+        "$auto_fix_cmd"
+    else
+      add_finding "CHK-PRM-013" "ok" \
+        "SSH private key permissions correct" \
+        "SSH private key is properly restricted to owner read/write" \
+        "$f mode $perms" "" ""
+    fi
+  done < <(find "$ssh_dir" -maxdepth 1 \( \
+    -iname 'id_*' -o -iname '*.pem' \
+  \) -type f ! -iname '*.pub' -print0 2>/dev/null)
+
+  if [[ "$found" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    add_finding "CHK-PRM-013" "info" \
+      "No SSH private keys found" \
+      "No SSH private key files detected in ~/.ssh directory" "" "" ""
+  fi
+}
+
 # ─── Run all checks ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 main() {
@@ -663,6 +719,7 @@ main() {
   check_credentials_dir
   check_log_secrets
   check_cloud_sync
+  check_ssh_keys
 
   log_info "Permissions scan complete: ${#FINDINGS[@]} finding(s)"