shadowsocks/shadowsocks-rust · error

`password` is required

Error message

`password` is required

What it means

Thrown when parsing a SIP008/JSON server entry: a `method` is present but the `password` field is missing. Per the code, an absent password is only allowed when no method is set (empty method implies empty password); otherwise ErrorKind::MissingField is returned naming the required method.

Source

Thrown at crates/shadowsocks-service/src/config.rs:2168

                    Ok(m) => m,
                    Err(..) => {
                        let err = Error::new(
                            ErrorKind::Invalid,
                            "unsupported method",
                            Some(format!("`{m}` is not a supported method")),
                        );
                        return Err(err);
                    }
                };

                // Only "password" support getting from environment variable.
                let password = match pwd_opt {
                    Some(ref pwd) => read_variable_field_value(pwd),
                    None => {
                        if method.is_none() {
                            String::new().into()
                        } else {
                            let err = Error::new(
                                ErrorKind::MissingField,
                                "`password` is required",
                                Some(format!("`password` is required for method {method}")),
                            );
                            return Err(err);
                        }
                    }
                };

                let mut nsvr = match ServerConfig::new(addr, password, method) {
                    Ok(svr) => svr,
                    Err(serr) => {
                        let err = Error::new(
                            ErrorKind::Malformed,
                            "server config create failed",
                            Some(format!("{}", serr)),
                        );
                        return Err(err);

View on GitHub (pinned to 8eb0f0a65b)

Solutions

1. Add a `password` field to the server entry
2. If the server truly has no auth, remove the `method` field entirely (then empty password is allowed)
3. Check the upstream SIP008 provider for an updated document with passwords filled in

Example fix

// before
{"server": "1.2.3.4", "server_port": 8388, "method": "aes-256-gcm"}
// after
{"server": "1.2.3.4", "server_port": 8388, "method": "aes-256-gcm", "password": "secret"}

// before load, for each server object:
if obj.get("method").is_some() && obj.get("password").is_none() {
    return Err("password is required when method is set");
}

match Config::load_from_json(...) { Err(e) if format!("{e}").contains("password") => fill_passwords_and_retry(), ... }

When it happens

Trigger: Config parsing of a server object that sets `method` (e.g. `aes-256-gcm`) but omits `password`, or sets it to null.

Common situations: SIP008 JSON from a provider missing per-server passwords; hand-trimmed config files where the password line was deleted; templates with placeholder passwords removed but method kept.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• missing `local_dns_addr` or `remote_dns_addr` in configurati
• missing `forward_addr` in configuration
• missing `local_port`
• invalid online config version
• unsupported method

AI-assisted analysis of shadowsocks/shadowsocks-rust@8eb0f0a65b (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ba6e7356df7a83f1. Report an issue: GitHub.