chmod 142 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

142

Symbolic

--xr---w-

Binary

001 100 010

Risk Level

Critical Risk

Summary: chmod 142 gives the owner execute, the group read, and everyone else write.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

142

--xr---w-

Owner: execute · Group: read · Others: write

chmod 142 filename

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

View the full chmod 142 guide →

chmod 142 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)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter
Others (o)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x

Is chmod 142 Safe?

Critical Risk

Anyone on the system can modify or replace 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

142 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 740.

chmod 142 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 142 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 142 /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 142 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 635 makes new directories 142. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 142 mean?

chmod 142 gives the owner execute, the group read, and everyone else write. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 4 (read), and others receive 2 (write).

Is chmod 142 safe?

chmod 142 is classified as Critical Risk. Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.

What is chmod 142 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 142 is represented as --xr---w-. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=r,o=w filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 542 add owner read chmod 342 add owner write chmod 042 remove owner execute chmod 102 remove group read chmod 162 add group write chmod 152 add group execute chmod 146 add others read chmod 140 remove others write chmod 143 add others execute

← chmod 141 chmod 143 →

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