wp_authenticate_username_password( WP_User|WP_Error|null $user, string $username, string $password ): WP_User|WP_Error

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$userWP_User|WP_Error|null

WP_User or WP_Error object from a previous callback. Default null.

$usernamestring

Username for authentication.

$passwordstring

Password for authentication.

Return value

WP_User|WP_Error

WP_User on success, WP_Error on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to wp_authenticate_username_password() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_user_by().

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

6–63

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 123.

Plugin surface

1 hook

Third-party callbacks on 'wp_authenticate_user' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

• querycontent queryget_user_by()called directly
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 9 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_authenticate_username_password() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Hooks and filters fired · 1

One hook fires while wp_authenticate_username_password() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( wp_authenticate_user )filterline 203 (+50 into the body)

   Filters whether the given user can be authenticated with the provided password.

Uses · 10

• is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• get_user_by()Retrieves user info by a given field.
• esc_html()Escaping for HTML blocks.
• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
• wp_check_password()Checks a plaintext password against a hashed password.
• wp_lostpassword_url()Returns the URL that allows the user to reset the lost password.
• wp_password_needs_rehash()Checks whether a password hash needs to be rehashed.
• wp_set_password()Updates the user's password with a new hashed one.
• WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

153function wp_authenticate_username_password(154	$user,155	$username,156	#[\SensitiveParameter]157	$password158) {159	if ( $user instanceof WP_User ) {160		return $user;161	}162 163	if ( empty( $username ) || empty( $password ) ) {164		if ( is_wp_error( $user ) ) {165			return $user;166		}167 168		$error = new WP_Error();169 170		if ( empty( $username ) ) {171			$error->add( 'empty_username', __( '<strong>Error:</strong> The username field is empty.' ) );172		}173 174		if ( empty( $password ) ) {175			$error->add( 'empty_password', __( '<strong>Error:</strong> The password field is empty.' ) );176		}177 178		return $error;179	}180 181	$user = get_user_by( 'login', $username );182 183	if ( ! $user ) {184		return new WP_Error(185			'invalid_username',186			sprintf(187				/* translators: %s: User name. */188				__( '<strong>Error:</strong> The username <strong>%s</strong> is not registered on this site. If you are unsure of your username, try your email address instead.' ),189				esc_html( $username )190			)191		);192	}193 194	/**195	 * Filters whether the given user can be authenticated with the provided password.196	 *197	 * @since 2.5.0198	 *199	 * @param WP_User|WP_Error $user     WP_User or WP_Error object if a previous200	 *                                   callback failed authentication.201	 * @param string           $password Password to check against the user.202	 */203	$user = apply_filters( 'wp_authenticate_user', $user, $password );204	if ( is_wp_error( $user ) ) {205		return $user;206	}207 208	$valid = wp_check_password( $password, $user->user_pass, $user->ID );209 210	if ( ! $valid ) {211		return new WP_Error(212			'incorrect_password',213			sprintf(214				/* translators: %s: User name. */215				__( '<strong>Error:</strong> The password you entered for the username %s is incorrect.' ),216				'<strong>' . esc_html( $username ) . '</strong>'217			) .218			' <a href="' . wp_lostpassword_url() . '">' .219			__( 'Lost your password?' ) .220			'</a>'221		);222	}223 224	if ( wp_password_needs_rehash( $user->user_pass, $user->ID ) ) {225		wp_set_password( $password, $user->ID );226	}227 228	return $user;229}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.8.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/user.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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