GNU bug report logs - #29390
chmod man page - clear setuid/setgid with numerical value

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Oliver Isaac <oisaac <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: chmod man page - clear setuid/setgid with numerical value 
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:46:33 -0600

Hello,

There is an incorrect assertion made in the chmod man page:

Under the setuid/setgid header it says, "you can set (but not clear) the bits with a numeric mode"

This is not entirely true. If you prefix your numeric mode with a 0 then it will work:

e.g.:

touch myfile
chmod 644 myfile
ls -l myfile
chmod g+s myfile
Is -l myfile
chmod 00644 myfile
is -l myfile


This simple test shows that you can clear the uid/gid bits with numeric mode which is especially useful in scripts.

An update to the man page to clarify this would be helpful. 

Thanks,
Oliver

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