chmod 164 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

164

Symbolic

--xrw-r--

Binary

001 110 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 164 gives the owner execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				1
Group (g)				6
Others (o)				4

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

164

--xrw-r--

Owner: execute · Group: read/write · Others: read

chmod 164 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 164 guide →

chmod 164 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)	`6`	`rw-`	Read and write	Can list names, cannot enter
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 164 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
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

164 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 664.

chmod 164 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 164 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 164 /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 164 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 613 makes new directories 164. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 164 mean?

chmod 164 gives the owner execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 164 safe?

chmod 164 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 164 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 164 is represented as --xrw-r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=rw,o=r filename".