chmod 434 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

434

Symbolic

r---wxr--

Binary

100 011 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 434 gives the owner read, the group write/execute, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

434

r---wxr--

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

chmod 434 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 434 guide →

chmod 434 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter
Group (g)	`3`	`-wx`	Write and execute	Can enter and create/delete files, but not list
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 434 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

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

chmod 434 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 434 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 434 /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 434 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 343 makes new directories 434. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 434 mean?

chmod 434 gives the owner read, the group write/execute, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 4 (read), the group receives 3 (write/execute), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 434 safe?

chmod 434 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 434 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 434 is represented as r---wxr--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=r,g=wx,o=r filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 034 remove owner read chmod 634 add owner write chmod 534 add owner execute chmod 474 add group read chmod 414 remove group write chmod 424 remove group execute chmod 430 remove others read chmod 436 add others write chmod 435 add others execute

← chmod 433 chmod 435 →

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