chmod 122 Permission Explained

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

122

--x-w--w-

Owner: execute · Group: write · Others: write

chmod 122 filename Copy

Critical Risk Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.

View the full chmod 122 guide →

chmod 122 Breakdown

Is chmod 122 Safe?

Critical Risk

• Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.
• 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

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

chmod 122 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 122 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 122 /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 122 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 655 makes new directories 122. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

Related Guides