chmod 144 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

144

Symbolic

--xr--r--

Binary

001 100 100

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 144 gives the owner execute, the group read, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

144

--xr--r--

Owner: execute · Group: read · Others: read

chmod 144 filename

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

View the full chmod 144 guide →

chmod 144 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)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 144 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

144 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 444.

chmod 144 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 144 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 144 /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 144 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 633 makes new directories 144. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 144 mean?

chmod 144 gives the owner execute, the group read, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 4 (read), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 144 safe?

chmod 144 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 144 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 144 is represented as --xr--r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=r,o=r filename".