chmod 461 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

461

Symbolic

r--rw---x

Binary

100 110 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 461 gives the owner read, the group read/write, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				4
Group (g)				6
Others (o)				1

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

461

r--rw---x

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

chmod 461 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 461 guide →

chmod 461 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter
Group (g)	`6`	`rw-`	Read and write	Can list names, cannot enter
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 461 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify 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

461 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 660.

chmod 461 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 461 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 461 /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 461 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 316 makes new directories 461. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 461 mean?

chmod 461 gives the owner read, the group read/write, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 4 (read), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 461 safe?

chmod 461 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 461 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 461 is represented as r--rw---x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=r,g=rw,o=x filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 061 remove owner read chmod 661 add owner write chmod 561 add owner execute chmod 421 remove group read chmod 441 remove group write chmod 471 add group execute chmod 465 add others read chmod 463 add others write chmod 460 remove others execute

← chmod 460 chmod 462 →

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