chmod 371 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

371

Symbolic

-wxrwx--x

Binary

011 111 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 371 gives the owner write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				3
Group (g)				7
Others (o)				1

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

371

-wxrwx--x

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

chmod 371 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 371 guide →

chmod 371 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`3`	`-wx`	Write and execute	Can enter and create/delete files, but not list
Group (g)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 371 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
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

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

chmod 371 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 371 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 371 /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 371 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 406 makes new directories 371. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 371 mean?

chmod 371 gives the owner write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 3 (write/execute), the group receives 7 (read/write/execute), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 371 safe?

chmod 371 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 371 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 371 is represented as -wxrwx--x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=wx,g=rwx,o=x filename".