Got it, so the shell is still /bin/bash but they specify the command in the .ssh/authorize_keys file which means it cannot be overridden by the user. (I was und

Got it, so the shell is still /bin/bash but they specify the command in the .ssh/authorize_keys file which means it cannot be overridden by the user. (I was under the mistaken impression that gitolite overrode the shell and not the command) So your original point was correct: as long as the authorized_keys file is not corrupted, everything is good. Thanks for helping me understand!