chmod 510 Permission Explained

Octal

510

Symbolic

r-x--x---

Binary

101 001 000

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 510 gives the owner read/execute, the group execute, and everyone else no access.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				5
Group (g)				1
Others (o)				0

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

510

r-x--x---

Owner: read/execute · Group: execute · Others: no access

chmod 510 filename

Low Risk Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.

View the full chmod 510 guide →

chmod 510 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter
Group (g)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents
Others (o)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify

Is chmod 510 Safe?

Low Risk

Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.

Common Use Cases

510 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 500.

chmod 510 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 510 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 510 /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 510 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 267 makes new directories 510. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 510 mean?

chmod 510 gives the owner read/execute, the group execute, and everyone else no access. In octal notation, the owner receives 5 (read/execute), the group receives 1 (execute), and others receive 0 (no access).

Is chmod 510 safe?

chmod 510 is classified as Low Risk. Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.

What is chmod 510 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 510 is represented as r-x--x---. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rx,g=x,o= filename".