A file on a Linux server has default permissions of rw-rw-r–. The system administrator has verified
that Ann, a user, is not a member of the group owner of the file. Which of the following should be
modified to assure that Ann has read access to the file?
A.
User ownership information for the file in question
B.
Directory permissions on the parent directory of the file in question
C.
Group memberships for the group owner of the file in question
D.
The file system access control list (FACL) for the file in question
The correct answer is “Directory permissions on the parent directory of the file in question.” This is the only answer that can make a difference.
This is a tricky question. Note that Ann is a user. She already has read access to the file, and none of the options say to do nothing. The file permissions, according to the file system access control list (FACL,) are rw-rw-r–. The first three (rw-) are the file owner permissions (read and write but not execute.) The second (rw-) are the group permissions for the group that has been assigned the file (also read and write but not execute.) The third (r–) is the All Users permissions; in this case read only.
As Ann is a user, she already has read access to the file.
If the question had asked what needed to be modified to ensure Ann has write access to the file, the answer should be to add Ann to the group that has been assigned to the file, by modifying “Group memberships for the group owner of the file in question.” As the question is written, however, that would do nothing, unless the group already has permissions on anything else that might be restricting access to the file. That is possible, but we have no information to support that.
“The file system access control list (FACL) for the file in question” is wrong, because the permissions already give read access to the whole world. Modifying it cannot grant Ann read access.
Likewise, “User ownership information for the file in question” also won’t help anything.
Note that you now have three potential answers which are all about modifying the permissions on the file–which do not need modification.
This leaves “Directory permissions on the parent directory of the file in question.” If the parent directory is restricted, access to the files within that directory are also restricted, overriding the default permissions. Modifying these would give Ann read access to the file, which she apparently does not have, even though the file’s own permissions say she should have them.
So the only answer which makes sense is “Directory permissions on the parent directory of the file in question.”
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