EX200 Manage users and groups Practice Question
A user named jdoe is receiving 'Permission denied' errors when trying to access a file owned by root with permissions 644. The user is a member of the root group. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates focus solely on file permissions (644) and overlook that directory execute permission is required for file access, leading them to incorrectly suspect group membership or file group ownership issues.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The directory containing the file lacks execute permission for the group or others.
The file has permissions 644, meaning the owner (root) has read/write, and the group (root) and others have read-only access. Since jdoe is a member of the root group, the file's group read permission should allow access. However, to traverse a directory and access any file within it, the user needs execute (x) permission on that directory. If the directory lacks execute for the group or others, jdoe will get 'Permission denied' even if the file permissions are correct.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The directory containing the file lacks execute permission for the group or others.
Why this is correct
The directory containing the file lacks execute permission for the group or others. This is the most likely cause because to access a file inside a directory, the user needs execute (x) permission on the directory. Without it, even with correct file permissions, the user will get 'Permission denied'.
- ✗
The file's group owner is not root.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. The file's group owner is not the issue. The file is owned by root, and the user jdoe is in the root group, so group permissions apply. The actual cause is missing directory execute permission.
- ✗
The file's read permission is not granted to the root group.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. The file permission 644 (rw-r--r--) explicitly grants read permission to the group owner, which is root. Since jdoe is a member of the root group, the group read bit applies and the file itself is readable; the denial is not caused by any missing read bit on the file. The real failure occurs at the directory level, where the lack of execute permission prevents jdoe from traversing into the directory to even reach the file, so adjusting file read permissions would have no effect.
- ✗
The user needs to be added to the root group again.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. The user is already a member of the root group, so re-adding would not resolve the issue. The error is due to the directory lacking execute permission for the group or others.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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