Abstract: At present, the study of landslide dam body stability is more at home and abroad. But most of the studies are individual cases. In all the factors which influence the stability of the landslide dam, the landslide dam material composition and its permeability characteristics of dam failure mode is important. On the base of previous investigations, from the basic rule of seepage flow, numerical simulation, laboratory test three aspects are summarized for landslide dam material seepage mechanism and research methods. The focus is on the research progress of landslide dam material permeability. It is points out that the geometric conditions and hydraulic conditions that determine the soil seepage deformation and seepage stability. Then the paper summarizes the problems existing in current studies on the landslide dam material penetration. Finally, possible research direction in the future are pointed out.