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Asked: 2026-06-11T01:06:50+00:00

I have a file called test with no rwx permissions (I have removed all

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I have a file called test with no rwx permissions (I have removed all the permission using chmod)

[root@dev]# ls -l test
———-. 1 root root 21 Sep 7 22:22 test

Q1) I am trying to run the below code to check if the file can be opened or not. The value returned to fd is positive. Shouldn’t fd be -1. ?

    fd = open(fname, O_RDONLY);
    if (fd == -1) {
        /* Print error message */
        return (-1);
    }
    close(fd);

Q2) I am even able to cat the file. Shouldn’t there be an error when I cat the file.
[root@dev]# cat test
This is a test file.
[root@dev]#

NOTE: I am using root account.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Short answer: root can do anything.

    Longer answer: In general, to open a file in a given mode, POSIX requires that the permissions based on your uid and gid allow you the requested type of access, or that you have “appropriate privileges”, a phrase which is implementation-defined. In most real-world implementations, one such condition that satisfies “appropriate privileges” is being the root user (uid 0).

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