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Not able to use special character '&' when changing user password even when using double quotes (Doc ID 2967199.1)

Last updated on JULY 20, 2024

Applies to:

Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 19.3.0.0.0 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

The Security Guide documentation explains that special characters are allowed in user's passwords, including the ampersand (&) character.

19c doc: https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/19/dbseg/configuring-authentication.html#GUID-1168CD4D-659E-432D-9CB7-F5733129657D

"These special characters are as follows: ‘ ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = { } [ ] \ / < > , . ; ? ' : | (space)"

Note "Doc ID 2220631.1" also explains, "As long we wrap your password in double quotes, password can include any character. Except double quotes themselves"

However,  even with double quotes some documented special characters can not be used as it will prompt you for a value.

Examples:

SQL> alter user ken identified by "VZ38/>{SP&Ro{y9PKD&LMkuooUWYwJ";
Enter value for ro: ^C

SQL> alter user ken identified by "VZ38/>SPRo{y9PKDLMkuooUWYwJ";

User altered.

SQL> alter user ken identified by "VZ38/>SPRo{y9PKD&LMkuooUWYwJ";
Enter value for lmkuoouwywj: ^C

 

We can clearly see it's prompting after each '&' character it finds, even with the use of double quotes.



Changes

 

Cause

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In this Document
Symptoms
Changes
Cause
Solution
References


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