ps aux | grep -i gecko
You write a Python script using Selenium with Firefox:
from selenium import webdriver
driver = webdriver.Firefox() # uses geckodriver
If /usr/local/bin/geckodriver or the Firefox profile directory has permissions set to drwxr-xr-x (755) but ownership is wrong, you get:
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/home/user/.mozilla/firefox'
System logs show drwxrxrx next to the offending directory.
From a cybersecurity perspective, a directory with drwxr-xr-x (755) is a goldmine for information disclosure. gecko drwxrxrx
If an attacker finds a web-accessible directory with 755 and no index.html, they can:
This is why security audits flag 755 on any directory inside the web root unless it’s intentionally public (e.g., /images).
New users often mis-type drwxrxrx because they forget the dash. The correct format is drwxr-xr-x. If you see drwxrxrx in an error log, it usually means a script failed to parse the standard output. ps aux | grep -i gecko
The golden rule: If the "Group" and "Others" sections don't match in length (3 letters each), something is wrong.
Before we look at the letters, we have to look at who is acting.
In our example, gecko is the owner of the file or directory. Imagine Gecko as the landlord of a digital property. You write a Python script using Selenium with
Linux permissions are built on three tiers:
755 on a directory means:
This is standard for public web folders (e.g., /var/www/html), but dangerous if applied to:
| Directory Type | Correct Permissions | Risk if drwxrxrx (755) |
|----------------|---------------------|--------------------------|
| /tmp | 1777 (sticky bit) | Low to Medium – users can see each other’s temp files |
| /etc/apache2/ or /nginx/ | 750 or 700 | High – others can read configs, exposing database passwords |
| /home/user/backups/ | 700 | High – others can download backups |
| /var/www/html/includes/ | 750 | Medium – code can be read by anyone on shared server |
| /home/user/public_html/wp-config.php (file) | 600 or 640 | Critical – if a file has drwx (not possible), but if directory is 755 and file is 644, file is readable by world |
Note: Files cannot have
das the first character. So if a log saysgecko drwxrxrxfor a file path, that’s a system error or a misformatted message. But if it’s a directory and it contains sensitive scripts, you must reduce permissions.