Can't get into lighttpd log directory anymore

[UnaClocker]

Very strange problem recently.. I used to do a cd /var/log/lighttpd  and then tail -f access.log  to watch the visitors come and go.. Well I can't even get into that directory anymore.. I have to sudo su  to even go in there.. I think I have the permissions set correctly:

Code:

drwxr-xr-- 2 www-data    www-data     4096 Mar  7 06:25 lighttpd

That would seem to indicate all users have read access.. Right?
But when I try, I get this:

Code:

-bash: cd: lighttpd/: Permission denied

This problem just appeared one day.. I haven't rebooted the thing in 2 months, so I'm really puzzled as to what changed.. Suggestions?

[Tempel]

I've never understood why, but directories must also be executable in order for you to get into them.

Code:

chmod +x /var/log/lighttpd

(done as root) will fix it.

[UnaClocker]

Ahh wow, learn something new every day. Thanks, that did the trick.

[birdman]

I've never understood why, but directories must also be executable in order for you to get into them.

That's so you can turn of the execute bit to stop group or world access to a directory.  Just as you can turn of the read bit to stop someone listing the entries (but, provide x is set for them, they can still access entries provided they know they exist, and have access to those entries themselves).

[Tempel]

So you're saying that being able to read a directory is being able to see the contents, while being able to execute a directory is being able to access those contents?  That's pretty cool, thanks for sharing.