chmod 120 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

120

Symbolic

--x-w----

Binary

001 010 000

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 120 gives the owner execute, the group write, and everyone else no access.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

120

--x-w----

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

chmod 120 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 120 guide →

chmod 120 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)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Others (o)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify

Is chmod 120 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
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

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

chmod 120 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 120 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 120 /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 120 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 657 makes new directories 120. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 120 mean?

chmod 120 gives the owner execute, the group write, and everyone else no access. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 0 (no access).

Is chmod 120 safe?

chmod 120 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 120 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 120 is represented as --x-w----. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=w,o= filename".