chmod 564 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

564

Symbolic

r-xrw-r--

Binary

101 110 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 564 gives the owner read/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

564

r-xrw-r--

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

chmod 564 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 564 guide →

chmod 564 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)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 564 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

564 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 664.

chmod 564 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 564 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 564 /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 564 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 213 makes new directories 564. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 564 mean?

chmod 564 gives the owner read/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 5 (read/execute), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 564 safe?

chmod 564 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 564 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 564 is represented as r-xrw-r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rx,g=rw,o=r filename".