chmod 525 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

525

Symbolic

r-x-w-r-x

Binary

101 010 101

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 525 gives the owner read/execute, the group write, and everyone else read/execute.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

525

r-x-w-r-x

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

chmod 525 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 525 guide →

chmod 525 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and 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 525 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

525 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 775.

chmod 525 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 525 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 525 /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 525 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 252 makes new directories 525. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 525 mean?

chmod 525 gives the owner read/execute, the group write, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 5 (read/execute), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 525 safe?

chmod 525 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 525 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 525 is represented as r-x-w-r-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rx,g=w,o=rx filename".