Error
Error Code:
3671
MySQL Error 3671: Auth Method Lacks Password Expiration
Description
This error indicates that the specific authentication plugin assigned to a user account does not support MySQL's built-in password expiration feature. It typically occurs when you try to apply a password expiration policy to a user, or a global policy is active, but the user's authentication method is incompatible with this security measure.
Error Message
The selected authentication method %.*s does not support password expiration
Known Causes
3 known causesIncompatible Authentication Plugin
The user account is configured to use an authentication plugin (e.g., `mysql_native_password`) that does not include support for password expiration policies.
Global Policy Mismatch
A global password expiration policy is active, but a specific user account is using an authentication method that cannot comply with this policy.
Manual User Configuration Error
A user was manually created or altered to use an authentication plugin that does not integrate with MySQL's password expiration feature.
Solutions
3 solutions available1. Change Authentication Plugin to mysql_native_password easy
Reconfigure the user to use a plugin that supports password expiration.
1
Connect to your MySQL server as a user with sufficient privileges (e.g., root).
2
Identify the user experiencing the error. You can do this by checking the `mysql.user` table or through error logs.
SELECT user, host, plugin FROM mysql.user WHERE user = 'your_username';
-- Replace 'your_username' with the actual username.3
Alter the user to use the `mysql_native_password` authentication plugin. This plugin supports password expiration.
ALTER USER 'your_username'@'your_host' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'your_password';
-- Replace 'your_username', 'your_host', and 'your_password' accordingly.
-- If you don't want to set a new password, you can omit 'BY 'your_password'' and the password will remain unchanged, but the plugin will be updated.4
Flush privileges to ensure the changes take effect immediately.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;2. Disable Password Expiration for the User easy
If password expiration is not a strict requirement, you can disable it for the affected user.
1
Connect to your MySQL server as a user with sufficient privileges (e.g., root).
2
Check the current password expiration policy. This is often managed by the `default_password_lifetime` system variable.
SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'default_password_lifetime';3
If `default_password_lifetime` is set to a non-zero value, you can disable expiration for the specific user by setting their password lifetime to 0. Note that this might not be directly controllable per-user for all authentication plugins.
ALTER USER 'your_username'@'your_host' PASSWORD EXPIRE NEVER;
-- Replace 'your_username' and 'your_host' accordingly.
-- This syntax might vary slightly depending on the MySQL version and the specific plugin used. The primary solution is to change the plugin as shown in the previous solution.4
Alternatively, you can set the global `default_password_lifetime` to 0. This will disable password expiration for all users that inherit this setting. This requires server configuration changes and a server restart.
-- In your my.cnf or my.ini file:
[mysqld]
default_password_lifetime = 0
-- After editing the configuration file, restart the MySQL server.5
Flush privileges to ensure the changes take effect immediately.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;3. Upgrade MySQL and Use Modern Authentication Plugins advanced
Leverage newer MySQL versions and their supported authentication methods.
1
Identify your current MySQL version.
SELECT VERSION();2
Consult the official MySQL documentation for your specific version regarding authentication plugins and their capabilities. For example, `caching_sha2_password` is the default for MySQL 8.0+ and generally supports password expiration.
text3
Follow the official MySQL upgrade guide for your operating system and version. This typically involves backing up your data, stopping the MySQL server, replacing the binaries, and restarting the server.
text4
After upgrading, re-evaluate your authentication plugin choices. For MySQL 8.0 and later, `caching_sha2_password` is the recommended and default plugin, which supports password expiration. If you were previously using a plugin that didn't support expiration, you can now switch to `caching_sha2_password`.
ALTER USER 'your_username'@'your_host' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'your_password';
-- Replace 'your_username', 'your_host', and 'your_password' accordingly.5
Flush privileges to ensure the changes take effect immediately.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;