this user requires clear text authentication. If you still w

Error message

this user requires clear text authentication. If you still want to use it, please add 'allowCleartextPasswords=1' to your DSN

What it means

ErrCleartextPassword is returned by the auth handshake (auth.go:298) when the server requests the `mysql_clear_password` plugin (used by PAM / LDAP authentication) and the DSN does not set allowCleartextPasswords=1. The driver blocks it by default because the plugin transmits the password in cleartext over the network, which is unsafe without an encrypted transport.

Source

Thrown at errors.go:23

// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file,
// You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.

package mysql

import (
	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"os"
)

// Various errors the driver might return. Can change between driver versions.
var (
	ErrInvalidConn       = errors.New("invalid connection")
	ErrMalformPkt        = errors.New("malformed packet")
	ErrNoTLS             = errors.New("TLS requested but server does not support TLS")
	ErrCleartextPassword = errors.New("this user requires clear text authentication. If you still want to use it, please add 'allowCleartextPasswords=1' to your DSN")
	ErrNativePassword    = errors.New("this user requires mysql native password authentication")
	ErrOldPassword       = errors.New("this user requires old password authentication. If you still want to use it, please add 'allowOldPasswords=1' to your DSN. See also https://github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql/wiki/old_passwords")
	ErrUnknownPlugin     = errors.New("this authentication plugin is not supported")
	ErrOldProtocol       = errors.New("MySQL server does not support required protocol 41+")
	ErrPktSync           = errors.New("commands out of sync. You can't run this command now")
	ErrPktSyncMul        = errors.New("commands out of sync. Did you run multiple statements at once?")
	ErrPktTooLarge       = errors.New("packet for query is too large. Try adjusting the `Config.MaxAllowedPacket`")
	ErrBusyBuffer        = errors.New("busy buffer")

	// errBadConnNoWrite is used for connection errors where nothing was sent to the database yet.
	// If this happens first in a function starting a database interaction, it should be replaced by driver.ErrBadConn
	// to trigger a resend. Use mc.markBadConn(err) to do this.
	// See https://github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql/pull/302
	errBadConnNoWrite = errors.New("bad connection")
)

var defaultLogger = Logger(log.New(os.Stderr, "[mysql] ", log.Ldate|log.Ltime))

View on GitHub (pinned to c426bd9379)

Solutions

Add `allowCleartextPasswords=1` to the DSN AND ensure the transport is encrypted (tls=true or a tunnel) so the password is not exposed on the wire.
If possible, switch the account to a hashing plugin (caching_sha2_password / mysql_native_password) so cleartext transmission is unnecessary.
Confirm the password is correct; this error is about the plugin, not a wrong password.

Example fix

// before
dsn := "u:p@tcp(host:3306)/db"
// after
dsn := "u:p@tcp(host:3306)/db?tls=true&allowCleartextPasswords=1"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if usesCleartextPlugin {
    if !tlsEnabled {
        return errors.New("refusing cleartext password without TLS")
    }
    dsn += "&allowCleartextPasswords=1"
}

Try / catch

if errors.Is(err, mysql.ErrCleartextPassword) {
    // add allowCleartextPasswords=1 (with TLS) and retry, or surface to user
}

Prevention

Always pair allowCleartextPasswords=1 with tls=true.
Prefer hashing plugins for new accounts.
Document the account's auth plugin in deployment config.

When it happens

Trigger: The MySQL user account is configured with mysql_clear_password (or the server forces it via auth switch). The driver's auth() switch at auth.go:296 sees plugin=="mysql_clear_password" but mc.cfg.AllowCleartextPasswords is false, so it returns ErrCleartextPassword.

Common situations: Connecting to a MySQL/Aurora/RDS account backed by PAM or LDAP; enterprise SSO setups; accounts created with `IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_clear_password`.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of go-sql-driver/mysql@c426bd9379 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/61e17940aa6a4d82.json. Report an issue: GitHub.