chmod 412 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

412

Symbolic

r----x-w-

Binary

100 001 010

Risk Level

Critical Risk

Summary: chmod 412 gives the owner read, the group execute, and everyone else write.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

412

r----x-w-

Owner: read · Group: execute · Others: write

chmod 412 filename

Critical Risk Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.

View the full chmod 412 guide →

chmod 412 Breakdown

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

Is chmod 412 Safe?

Critical Risk

Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.
Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

412 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 400.

chmod 412 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 412 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 412 /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 412 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 365 makes new directories 412. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 412 mean?

chmod 412 gives the owner read, the group execute, and everyone else write. In octal notation, the owner receives 4 (read), the group receives 1 (execute), and others receive 2 (write).

Is chmod 412 safe?

chmod 412 is classified as Critical Risk. Anyone on the system can modify or replace this file.

What is chmod 412 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 412 is represented as r----x-w-. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=r,g=x,o=w filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 012 remove owner read chmod 612 add owner write chmod 512 add owner execute chmod 452 add group read chmod 432 add group write chmod 402 remove group execute chmod 416 add others read chmod 410 remove others write chmod 413 add others execute

← chmod 411 chmod 413 →

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