Syntax:
SET PASSWORD [FOR user] auth_option
    [REPLACE 'current_auth_string']
    [RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD]

auth_option: {
    = 'auth_string'
  | TO RANDOM
}

The SET PASSWORD statement assigns a password to a MySQL user account.
The password may be either explicitly specified in the statement or
randomly generated by MySQL. The statement may also include a
password-verification clause that specifies the account current
password to be replaced, and a clause that manages whether an account
has a secondary password. 'auth_string' and 'current_auth_string' each
represent a cleartext (unencrypted) password.

*Note*:

Rather than using SET PASSWORD to assign passwords, ALTER USER is the
preferred statement for account alterations, including assigning
passwords. For example:

ALTER USER user IDENTIFIED BY 'auth_string';

*Note*:

Clauses for random password generation, password verification, and
secondary passwords apply only to accounts that use an authentication
plugin that stores credentials internally to MySQL. For accounts that
use a plugin that performs authentication against a credentials system
that is external to MySQL, password management must be handled
externally against that system as well. For more information about
internal credentials storage, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/password-management.html.

The REPLACE 'current_auth_string' clause performs password verification
and is available as of MySQL 8.0.13. If given:

o REPLACE specifies the account current password to be replaced, as a
  cleartext (unencrypted) string.

o The clause must be given if password changes for the account are
  required to specify the current password, as verification that the
  user attempting to make the change actually knows the current
  password.

o The clause is optional if password changes for the account may but
  need not specify the current password.

o The statement fails if the clause is given but does not match the
  current password, even if the clause is optional.

o REPLACE can be specified only when changing the account password for
  the current user.

For more information about password verification by specifying the
current password, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/password-management.html.

The RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD clause implements dual-password capability
and is available as of MySQL 8.0.14. If given:

o RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD retains an account current password as its
  secondary password, replacing any existing secondary password. The
  new password becomes the primary password, but clients can use the
  account to connect to the server using either the primary or
  secondary password. (Exception: If the new password specified by the
  SET PASSWORD statement is empty, the secondary password becomes empty
  as well, even if RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD is given.)

o If you specify RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD for an account that has an
  empty primary password, the statement fails.

o If an account has a secondary password and you change its primary
  password without specifying RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD, the secondary
  password remains unchanged.

For more information about use of dual passwords, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/password-management.html.

SET PASSWORD permits these auth_option syntaxes:

o = 'auth_string'

  Assigns the account the given literal password.

o TO RANDOM

  Assigns the account a password randomly generated by MySQL. The
  statement also returns the cleartext password in a result set to make
  it available to the user or application executing the statement.

  For details about the result set and characteristics of randomly
  generated passwords, see
  https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/password-management.html#rand
  om-password-generation.

  Random password generation is available as of MySQL 8.0.18.

*Important*:

Under some circumstances, SET PASSWORD may be recorded in server logs
or on the client side in a history file such as ~/.mysql_history, which
means that cleartext passwords may be read by anyone having read access
to that information. For information about the conditions under which
this occurs for the server logs and how to control it, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/password-logging.html. For
similar information about client-side logging, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/mysql-logging.html.

SET PASSWORD can be used with or without a FOR clause that explicitly
names a user account:

o With a FOR user clause, the statement sets the password for the named
  account, which must exist:

SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = 'auth_string';

o With no FOR user clause, the statement sets the password for the
  current user:

SET PASSWORD = 'auth_string';

  Any client who connects to the server using a nonanonymous account
  can change the password for that account. (In particular, you can
  change your own password.) To see which account the server
  authenticated you as, invoke the CURRENT_USER() function:

SELECT CURRENT_USER();

If a FOR user clause is given, the account name uses the format
described in
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/account-names.html. For
example:

SET PASSWORD FOR 'bob'@'%.example.org' = 'auth_string';

The host name part of the account name, if omitted, defaults to '%'.

SET PASSWORD interprets the string as a cleartext string, passes it to
the authentication plugin associated with the account, and stores the
result returned by the plugin in the account row in the mysql.user
system table. (The plugin is given the opportunity to hash the value
into the encryption format it expects. The plugin may use the value as
specified, in which case no hashing occurs.)

Setting the password for a named account (with a FOR clause) requires
the UPDATE privilege for the mysql system schema. Setting the password
for yourself (for a nonanonymous account with no FOR clause) requires
no special privileges.

Statements that modify secondary passwords require these privileges:

o The APPLICATION_PASSWORD_ADMIN privilege is required to use the
  RETAIN CURRENT PASSWORD clause for SET PASSWORD statements that apply
  to your own account. The privilege is required to manipulate your own
  secondary password because most users require only one password.

o If an account is to be permitted to manipulate secondary passwords
  for all accounts, it should be granted the CREATE USER privilege
  rather than APPLICATION_PASSWORD_ADMIN.

When the read_only system variable is enabled, SET PASSWORD requires
the CONNECTION_ADMIN or SUPER privilege in addition to any other
required privileges.

URL: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/set-password.html

