Reset password to unknown password

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Reset password to unknown password

dan-572483

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Points: 15870
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May 30, 2014 at 1:19 pm

#308577

If a password for a SQL Login was erroneously reset, you absolutely have to restore the password to what is was before, but no one knows what is was, will a restore of the Master database to before the reset occurred do the trick?

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323504 More actions · Answer 1

yes i believe that's about all you can do.

the password is stored in a credential, which you can partially review in master.sys.credentials.

It is not possible to script(even in a hashed format) or insert a credential from another source, so restoring master woudl probably be what you would have to do.

but if the password was changed, and some app or process is using that original username/password, you might be able to get the old password from the applciation.

Lowell

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323504 More actions · Answer 2

what is the actual reason you cannot simply use the new password, or set the password yet again?

it seems kind of strange you think you need to restore it, maybe if we help look at the problem sideways we can offer a suggestion?

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

dan-572483 SSCoach Points: 15870 More actions · Answer 3

I'm not actually in this situation, but I did just reset an unknown password and when doing changes I tend think of "what can go wrong" scenarios ahead of time. In this case I thought "What if the password is stored in encrypted form in an application config and we can't change it?" Most likely we'll be able to update with the new password anywhere it's needed.