chmod 560 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

560

Symbolic

r-xrw----

Binary

101 110 000

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 560 gives the owner read/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else no access.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				5
Group (g)				6
Others (o)				0

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

560

r-xrw----

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

chmod 560 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 560 guide →

chmod 560 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter
Group (g)	`6`	`rw-`	Read and write	Can list names, cannot enter
Others (o)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify

Is chmod 560 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

560 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 740.

chmod 560 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 560 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 560 /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 560 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 217 makes new directories 560. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 560 mean?

chmod 560 gives the owner read/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else no access. In octal notation, the owner receives 5 (read/execute), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 0 (no access).

Is chmod 560 safe?

chmod 560 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 560 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 560 is represented as r-xrw----. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rx,g=rw,o= filename".