candidatepassword

Candidatepassword is a descriptive term used in information security to refer to a password that has been proposed or generated as a potential credential within an authentication workflow. It is not a standard technical specification, but a shorthand used in documentation and discussions to distinguish a password that is under consideration from one that has been accepted, stored, or enforced by policy.

In typical account creation or password reset scenarios, a candidatepassword may be entered by a user or generated by the system as a temporary or initial password. The candidatepassword is usually subject to policy checks and may require user confirmation or change upon first login. In some interfaces, users are asked to create a candidatepassword that subsequently becomes the official password after verification, while in others a system-supplied candidatepassword is sent to the user and must be replaced.

In the context of password generation, candidatepassword describes any of the strings produced by a generator as potential credentials. It can also appear in security testing and credential stuffing discussions as part of a set of candidate passwords considered for access attempts, though such use should be conducted ethically and legally with authorization.

Security considerations for candidatepasswords include ensuring transmission over secure channels, minimizing exposure in logs, applying strong password policies, and requiring periodic change or MFA to mitigate risks associated with weak or compromised credentials. Best practices emphasize unique, long, and unpredictable passwords or passphrases.

See also: password, password reset, temporary credential, authentication.