chmod 705 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

705

Symbolic

rwx---r-x

Binary

111 000 101

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 705 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group no access, and everyone else read/execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				0
Others (o)				5

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

705

rwx---r-x

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

chmod 705 filename

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

View the full chmod 705 guide →

chmod 705 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)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter

Is chmod 705 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

705 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 755.

chmod 705 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 705 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 705 /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 705 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 072 makes new directories 705. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 705 mean?

chmod 705 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group no access, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 0 (no access), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 705 safe?

chmod 705 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 705 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 705 is represented as rwx---r-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=,o=rx filename".