chmod 715 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

715

Symbolic

rwx--xr-x

Binary

111 001 101

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 715 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group execute, and everyone else read/execute.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

715

rwx--xr-x

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

chmod 715 filename

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

View the full chmod 715 guide →

chmod 715 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Group (g)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents
Others (o)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter

Is chmod 715 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

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

chmod 715 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 715 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 715 /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 715 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 062 makes new directories 715. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 715 mean?

chmod 715 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group execute, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 1 (execute), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 715 safe?

chmod 715 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 715 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 715 is represented as rwx--xr-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=x,o=rx filename".