this user requires mysql native password authentication

Error message

this user requires mysql native password authentication

What it means

ErrNativePassword is returned from auth() (auth.go:306) when the server requires the mysql_native_password plugin but the DSN explicitly disabled it (allowNativePasswords=false). Because AllowNativePasswords defaults to true (dsn.go:97), this error only appears when an operator deliberately turned native auth off.

Solutions

Remove allowNativePasswords=false (or set it true) so the driver can answer the native-password challenge.
Upgrade/switch the account to caching_sha2_password (MySQL 8+) so native auth is genuinely unnecessary.
Keep the flag disabled only if every reachable server is caching_sha2_password-capable.

Example fix

// before
dsn := "user:pass@tcp(mysql57:3306)/db?allowNativePasswords=false"
// -> ErrNativePassword

// after
dsn := "user:pass@tcp(mysql57:3306)/db"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Do not disable native auth unless every target server is
// caching_sha2_password-only.
dsn := "user:pass@tcp(host:3306)/db"
// omit allowNativePasswords=false unless you have verified the server

Type guard

func isNativePasswordDenied(err error) bool {
    return errors.Is(err, mysql.ErrNativePassword)
}

Try / catch

if errors.Is(err, mysql.ErrNativePassword) {
    // remove allowNativePasswords=false from the DSN, or switch the
    // account to caching_sha2_password, then retry.
}

Prevention

Leave allowNativePasswords at its default (true) for MySQL 5.x / MariaDB.
Audit DSNs copied between environments for hardened flags that don't apply.
Standardize on caching_sha2_password before disabling native auth.

When it happens

Trigger: Connecting with allowNativePasswords=false in the DSN to a server/account whose auth plugin is mysql_native_password (the historical default for MySQL < 8.0 and all MariaDB releases).

Common situations: Hardening a DSN by disabling native passwords in anticipation of caching_sha2_password-only servers, then pointing it at an older MySQL 5.7 or MariaDB instance; copying a hardened DSN between environments with different server versions.

Understand the failure class

Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of go-sql-driver/mysql@03d76c7e07 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/add5c07c672be97c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: 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))

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