chmod 241 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

241

Symbolic

-w-r----x

Binary

010 100 001

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 241 gives the owner write, the group read, and everyone else execute.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

241

-w-r----x

Owner: write · Group: read · Others: execute

chmod 241 filename

Low Risk Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

View the full chmod 241 guide →

chmod 241 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Group (g)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 241 Safe?

Low Risk

Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

241 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 640.

chmod 241 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 241 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 241 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type f -exec chmod 241 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 536 makes new directories 241. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 241 mean?

chmod 241 gives the owner write, the group read, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 2 (write), the group receives 4 (read), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 241 safe?

chmod 241 is classified as Low Risk. Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

What is chmod 241 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 241 is represented as -w-r----x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=w,g=r,o=x filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 641 add owner read chmod 041 remove owner write chmod 341 add owner execute chmod 201 remove group read chmod 261 add group write chmod 251 add group execute chmod 245 add others read chmod 243 add others write chmod 240 remove others execute

← chmod 240 chmod 242 →

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