$ Linux Command

Packages

dpkg-statoverride

Override file ownership and permissions for dpkg-managed files.

debianpackagedpkgpermissionsoverride

Additional Notes

dpkg-statoverride manages stat overrides, which tell dpkg to set specific ownership and permission modes on files regardless of what the package specifies. This is used to enforce custom permissions on files that package updates would otherwise reset.

For example, if a package ships a file as root:root 0644 but your site policy requires it to be root:www-data 0640, a stat override ensures the desired permissions survive package upgrades. The overrides are stored in the dpkg database and are applied when the package is installed or upgraded.

Syntax

dpkg-statoverride [options] [--add|--remove|--list] [user:group mode file]

Parameters

  • --add user:group mode file: Add a new stat override for the specified file.
  • --remove file: Remove the stat override for a file.
  • --list [glob]: List all current stat overrides, optionally matching a glob pattern.

Common Options

  • --update: Immediately apply the owner, group, and mode of the added override to the file.
  • --force: Force the operation, bypassing sanity checks.
  • --quiet: Suppress informational messages.

Examples

dpkg-statoverride --add www-data www-data 755 /var/www/html

Override /var/www/html to be owned by www-data:www-data with mode 755.

dpkg-statoverride --list

List all current stat overrides on the system.

dpkg-statoverride --remove /var/www/html

Remove the stat override for a file.

dpkg-statoverride --add --update root adm 2755 /usr/bin/screen

Add and immediately apply a setgid override for the screen binary.

Practical Notes

  • Stat overrides survive package upgrades but are not automatically removed when the package is removed.
  • Use --update to apply the override immediately rather than waiting for the next package operation.
  • Without a stat override, dpkg sets permissions and ownership from the package's .deb archive metadata.
  • To prevent a package from changing critical permissions, add a stat override before or during installation.
  • To view existing overrides that may have been set by other packages, run dpkg-statoverride --list.