9 Default home directory permissions

A home directory is special because it contains all of the files that belong to a user. In Debian, this is how a home directory is set up by default (let us assume kaze is the user):

• /home/kaze is the default directory.
• kaze is the uwer owner.
• ksze is the group owner.
• rwx is the user owner permission.
• r-x is the group owner permission.
• --- is the world permission.

Although the group permissions do permit read and execute, it is not a problem. This is because the group ownership is set to kaze. Unless someone else is added to the group kaze (which is possible), the user kaze is the only one who can access the directory.

In other words, the default permissions of home directories is fairly secure in Debian Linux. As a safe practice, however, you should always check the permissions of home directories. This is especially the case with an unknown distribution, or one that you are not familiar with.