netbirdio/netbird · error

password must be at least 8 characters long

Error message

password must be at least 8 characters long

What it means

Returned by ValidatePassword (management/server/user.go:1914): the password must be at least minPasswordLength (8) characters. It is the first of four strength rules (length, digit, uppercase, special character) checked when a password is set for a user, e.g. during user creation or password update flows that call validatePassword.

Source

Thrown at management/server/user.go:1914

	return nil
}

const minPasswordLength = 8

// validatePassword checks password strength requirements.
func validatePassword(password string) error {
	return ValidatePassword(password)
}

// ValidatePassword checks password strength requirements:
// - Minimum 8 characters
// - At least 1 digit
// - At least 1 uppercase letter
// - At least 1 special character
func ValidatePassword(password string) error {
	if len(password) < minPasswordLength {
		return errors.New("password must be at least 8 characters long")
	}

	var hasDigit, hasUpper, hasSpecial bool
	for _, c := range password {
		switch {
		case unicode.IsDigit(c):
			hasDigit = true
		case unicode.IsUpper(c):
			hasUpper = true
		case !unicode.IsLetter(c) && !unicode.IsDigit(c):
			hasSpecial = true
		}
	}

	var missing []string
	if !hasDigit {
		missing = append(missing, "one digit")
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 93e97f4bf1)

Solutions

1. Use a password of 8+ characters that also satisfies the remaining rules (1 digit, 1 uppercase, 1 special character)
2. Generate with a password manager or a generator that guarantees all four classes

Example fix

// before
password := "netbird"

// after
password := "Netbird!2026"

const minPasswordLength = 8

if len(password) < minPasswordLength {
    return fmt.Errorf("password must be at least %d characters", minPasswordLength)
}

if err := management.ValidatePassword(pw); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "at least 8 characters") {
        // reject in the form before any API call
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any management call that sets a password with fewer than 8 characters, for example "netbird" or "1234".

Common situations: Test/seed scripts with throwaway passwords; password generators configured below 8 chars; users pasting a truncated password.

Related errors

• password must contain at least {missing}
• self deletion is not allowed
• service name is required
• service name exceeds maximum length of 255 characters
• at least one target is required

AI-assisted analysis of netbirdio/netbird@93e97f4bf1 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/96c526ba863038e8. Report an issue: GitHub.