chmod 104 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

104

Symbolic

--x---r--

Binary

001 000 100

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 104 gives the owner execute, the group no access, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

104

--x---r--

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

chmod 104 filename

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

View the full chmod 104 guide →

chmod 104 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents
Group (g)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 104 Safe?

Low Risk

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.
Scripts need read permission to run; only compiled binaries can be executed without it.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

104 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 500.

chmod 104 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 104 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 104 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type d -exec chmod 104 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 673 makes new directories 104. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 104 mean?

chmod 104 gives the owner execute, the group no access, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 0 (no access), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 104 safe?

chmod 104 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 104 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 104 is represented as --x---r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=,o=r filename".