UMASK (number) The file mode creation mask is initialized to this value. If not specified, the mask will be initialized to 022. useradd and newusers use this mask to set the mode of the home directory they create It is also used by login to define users' initial umask. Note that this mask can be overriden by the user's GECOS line (if QUOTAS_ENAB is set) or by the specification of a limit with the K identifier in limits 5. It is also used by pam_umask as the default umask value.