chmod 174 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

174

Symbolic

--xrwxr--

Binary

001 111 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 174 gives the owner execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				1
Group (g)				7
Others (o)				4

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

174

--xrwxr--

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

chmod 174 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 174 guide →

chmod 174 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)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 174 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

174 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 775.

chmod 174 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 174 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 174 /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 174 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 603 makes new directories 174. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 174 mean?

chmod 174 gives the owner execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 1 (execute), the group receives 7 (read/write/execute), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 174 safe?

chmod 174 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 174 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 174 is represented as --xrwxr--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=x,g=rwx,o=r filename".