chmod 704 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

704

Symbolic

rwx---r--

Binary

111 000 100

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 704 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group no access, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				0
Others (o)				4

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

704

rwx---r--

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

chmod 704 filename

Low Risk Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.

View the full chmod 704 guide →

chmod 704 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Group (g)	`0`	`---`	No access	Cannot list, enter, or modify
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 704 Safe?

Low Risk

Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

704 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 700.

chmod 704 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 704 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 704 /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 704 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 073 makes new directories 704. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 704 mean?

chmod 704 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group no access, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 0 (no access), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 704 safe?

chmod 704 is classified as Low Risk. Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.

What is chmod 704 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 704 is represented as rwx---r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=,o=r filename".