chmod 374 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

374

Symbolic

-wxrwxr--

Binary

011 111 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 374 gives the owner write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

374

-wxrwxr--

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

chmod 374 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 374 guide →

chmod 374 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)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 374 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.
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

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

chmod 374 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 374 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 374 /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 374 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 403 makes new directories 374. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 374 mean?

chmod 374 gives the owner write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 3 (write/execute), the group receives 7 (read/write/execute), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 374 safe?

chmod 374 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 374 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 374 is represented as -wxrwxr--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=wx,g=rwx,o=r filename".