chmod 771 Permission Explained

Octal

771

Symbolic

rwxrwx--x

Binary

111 111 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 771 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else execute.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

771

rwxrwx--x

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

chmod 771 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 771 guide →

chmod 771 Breakdown

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

Is chmod 771 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.

Common Use Cases

771 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 775.

chmod 771 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 771 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 771 /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 771 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 006 makes new directories 771. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 771 mean?

chmod 771 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write/execute, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 7 (read/write/execute), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 771 safe?

chmod 771 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 771 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 771 is represented as rwxrwx--x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=rwx,o=x filename".