chmod 425 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

425

Symbolic

r---w-r-x

Binary

100 010 101

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 425 gives the owner read, the group write, and everyone else read/execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				4
Group (g)				2
Others (o)				5

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

425

r---w-r-x

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

chmod 425 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 425 guide →

chmod 425 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter
Group (g)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Others (o)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter

Is chmod 425 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.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

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

chmod 425 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 425 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 425 /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 425 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 352 makes new directories 425. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 425 mean?

chmod 425 gives the owner read, the group write, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 4 (read), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 425 safe?

chmod 425 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 425 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 425 is represented as r---w-r-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=r,g=w,o=rx filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 025 remove owner read chmod 625 add owner write chmod 525 add owner execute chmod 465 add group read chmod 405 remove group write chmod 435 add group execute chmod 421 remove others read chmod 427 add others write chmod 424 remove others execute

← chmod 424 chmod 426 →

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