6.3.7.3. The Cleartext Client-Side Authentication Plugin

A client-side authentication plugin is available that sends the password to the server without hashing or encryption. This plugin is built into the MySQL client library.

The following table shows the plugin name.

Table 6.11. MySQL Cleartext Authentication Plugin

Server-side plugin name	None, see discussion
Client-side plugin name	`mysql_clear_password`
Library object file name	None (plugin is built in)

With native MySQL authentication, the client performs one-way hashing on the password before sending it to the server. This enables the client to avoid sending the password in clear text. See Section 6.1.2.4, "Password Hashing in MySQL". However, because the hash algorithm is one way, the original password cannot be recovered on the server side.

One-way hashing cannot be done for authentication schemes that require the server to receive the password as entered on the client side. In such cases, the mysql_clear_password client-side plugin can be used to send the password to the server in clear text. There is no corresponding server-side plugin. Rather, the client-side plugin can be used by any server-side plugin that needs a clear text password.

For general information about pluggable authentication in MySQL, see Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".

Note

Sending passwords in clear text may be a security problem in some configurations. To avoid problems if there is any possibility that the password would be intercepted, clients should connect to MySQL Server using a method that protects the password. Possibilities include SSL (see Section 6.3.9, "Using SSL for Secure Connections"), IPsec, or a private network.

To make inadvertent use of this plugin less likely, it is required that clients explicitly enable it. This can be done several ways:

Set the LIBMYSQL_ENABLE_CLEARTEXT_PLUGIN environment variable to a value that begins with 1, Y, or y. This enables the plugin for all client connections.
The mysql, mysqladmin, and mysqlslap client programs support an --enable-cleartext-plugin option that enables the plugin on a per-invocation basis.
The mysql_options() C API function supports a MYSQL_ENABLE_CLEARTEXT_PLUGIN option that enables the plugin on a per-connection basis. Also, any program that uses libmysqlclient and reads option files can enable the plugin by including an enable-cleartext-plugin option in an option group read by the client library.