chmod 005 Permission Explained

Notice: This is an unusual permission set: some classes have more access than the class above them. It is rarely correct in practice.
Octal
005
Symbolic
------r-x
Binary
000 000 101
Risk Level
Low Risk

Summary: chmod 005 gives the owner no access, the group no access, and everyone else read/execute.

Class Read (4) Write (2) Execute (1) Octal
Owner (u) 0
Group (g) 0
Others (o) 5
005
------r-x
Owner: no access · Group: no access · Others: read/execute
chmod 005 filename
Low Risk Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
View the full chmod 005 guide →
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chmod 005 Breakdown

Class Digit Symbolic On a file On a directory
Owner (u) 0 --- No access Cannot list, enter, or modify
Group (g) 0 --- No access Cannot list, enter, or modify
Others (o) 5 r-x Read and execute Can list and enter

Is chmod 005 Safe?

Low Risk

Common Use Cases

005 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 000.

chmod 005 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 005 filename

# Apply using equivalent symbolic mode
chmod u=,g=,o=rx filename

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 005 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type f -exec chmod 005 {} +

# Verify permissions
stat -c '%a %A %n' filename    # Linux
stat -f '%Lp %Sp %N' filename   # macOS

# Example ls -l output:
-------r-x 1 alice staff 1024 Jan 15 10:00 example.txt

umask Relationship

A umask of 772 makes new directories 005. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 005 mean?

chmod 005 gives the owner no access, the group no access, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 0 (no access), the group receives 0 (no access), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 005 safe?

chmod 005 is classified as Low Risk. Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.

What is chmod 005 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 005 is represented as ------r-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=,g=,o=rx filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

← chmod 004 chmod 006 →

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