Directory Permission Order

Question

In Linux, let us assume we have a directory with the following properties:

drwx---r-x 29 user1      group1 4096 Jun 22 14:11 dir1

can I, as user2 having group group1, navigate into dir1?

Since other has r and x permissions, I was thinking I could, but I could not navigate into the directory and got the following error:

-bash: cd: dir1/: Permission denied

What am I missing?

Chris Davies · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-22T08:41:31.553

1

The permissions for group take priority over permissions for other. And in turn, permissions for user take priority over both. You're not the owner but you are in group1, so those are the permissions that are checked.

Generally, permissions rarely become less restrictive when going from user to group to other. In your scenario, if you want members of group1 to have the same access to this file as everyone else you need to give them the same permissions: rwxr-xr-x.

edited Jun 22 '15 at 08:41

answered Jun 22 '15 at 07:09

Chris Davies

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Now I see. Thanks. Is there anything I could do except for changing permissions of the directory or group of user2? – Batuhan Tasdoven Jun 22 '15 at 07:10
@BatuhanTasdoven I've updated the answer; hopefully this is clearer for you – Chris Davies Jun 22 '15 at 08:42

Directory Permission Order

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