chmod 024 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

024

Symbolic

----w-r--

Binary

000 010 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 024 gives the owner no access, the group write, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				0
Group (g)				2
Others (o)				4

setuid (4) setgid (2) sticky bit (1)

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

024

----w-r--

Owner: no access · Group: write · Others: read

chmod 024 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 024 guide →

chmod 024 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify
Group (g)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 024 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

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

chmod 024 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 024 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 024 /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 024 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 753 makes new directories 024 and new files 024. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 024 mean?

chmod 024 gives the owner no access, the group write, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 0 (no access), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 024 safe?

chmod 024 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 024 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 024 is represented as ----w-r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=,g=w,o=r filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 424 add owner read chmod 224 add owner write chmod 124 add owner execute chmod 064 add group read chmod 004 remove group write chmod 034 add group execute chmod 020 remove others read chmod 026 add others write chmod 025 add others execute

← chmod 023 chmod 025 →

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