13.7.1.7 SET PASSWORD Statement

SET PASSWORD [FOR user] = password_option

password_option: {
    PASSWORD('auth_string')
  | OLD_PASSWORD('auth_string')
  | 'hash_string'
}

The SET PASSWORD statement assigns a password to a MySQL user account, specified as either a cleartext (unencrypted) or encrypted value:

• 'auth_string' represents a cleartext password.

• 'hash_string' represents an encrypted password.

Important

Under some circumstances, SET PASSWORD may be recorded in server logs or on the client side in a history file such as ~/.mysql_history, which means that cleartext passwords may be read by anyone having read access to that information. For information about the conditions under which this occurs for the server logs and how to control it, see Section 6.1.2.3, “Passwords and Logging”. For similar information about client-side logging, see Section 4.5.1.3, “mysql Client Logging”.

SET PASSWORD can be used with or without a FOR clause that explicitly names a user account:

• With a FOR user clause, the statement sets the password for the named account, which must exist:

  SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = password_option;

• With no FOR user clause, the statement sets the password for the current user:

  SET PASSWORD = password_option;

  Any client who connects to the server using a nonanonymous account can change the password for that account. (In particular, you can change your own password.) To see which account the server authenticated you as, invoke the CURRENT_USER() function:

  SELECT CURRENT_USER();

If a FOR user clause is given, the account name uses the format described in Section 6.2.4, “Specifying Account Names”. For example:

SET PASSWORD FOR 'bob'@'%.example.org' = PASSWORD('auth_string');

The host name part of the account name, if omitted, defaults to '%'.

Setting the password for a named account (with a FOR clause) requires the UPDATE privilege for the mysql system database. Setting the password for yourself (for a nonanonymous account with no FOR clause) requires no special privileges. When the read_only system variable is enabled, SET PASSWORD requires the SUPER privilege in addition to any other required privileges.

The password can be specified in these ways:

• Use the PASSWORD() function

  The PASSWORD() argument is the cleartext (unencrypted) password. PASSWORD() hashes the password and returns the encrypted password string for storage in the account row in the mysql.user system table.

  The PASSWORD() function hashes the password using the hashing method determined by the value of the old_passwords system variable value. If SET PASSWORD rejects the hashed password value returned by PASSWORD() as not being in the correct format, it may be necessary to change old_passwords to change the hashing method. For example, if the account uses the mysql_native_password plugin, the old_passwords value must be 0:

  SET old_passwords = 0;
  SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('password');

  If the old_passwords value differs from that required by the authentication plugin, the hashed password value returned by PASSWORD() is not acceptable for that plugin, and attempts to set the password produce an error. For example:

  mysql> SET old_passwords = 1;
  mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('password');
  ERROR 1372 (HY000): Password hash should be a 41-digit hexadecimal number

  Permitted old_passwords values are described later in this section.

• Use the OLD_PASSWORD() function:

  The 'auth_string' function argument is the cleartext (unencrypted) password. OLD_PASSWORD() hashes the password using pre-4.1 hashing and returns the encrypted password string for storage in the account row in the mysql.user system table. This hashing method is appropriate only for accounts that use the mysql_old_password authentication plugin.

• Use an already encrypted password string

  The password is specified as a string literal. It must represent the already encrypted password value, in the hash format required by the authentication method used for the account.

The following table shows, for each password hashing method, the permitted value of old_passwords and which authentication plugins use the hashing method.

Password Hashing Method	old_passwords Value	Associated Authentication Plugin
MySQL 4.1 native hashing	0	mysql_native_password
Pre-4.1 (“old”) hashing	1	mysql_old_password
SHA-256 hashing	2	sha256_password

Caution

If you are connecting to a MySQL 4.1 or later server using a pre-4.1 client program, do not change your password without first reading Section 6.1.2.4, “Password Hashing in MySQL”. The default password hashing format changed in MySQL 4.1, and if you change your password, it might be stored using a hashing format that pre-4.1 clients cannot generate, thus preventing you from connecting to the server afterward.

For additional information about setting passwords and authentication plugins, see Section 6.2.9, “Assigning Account Passwords”, and Section 6.2.11, “Pluggable Authentication”.