How to decrypt hashed passwords of email accounts in Plesk

Question

Utility plesk sbin mail_auth_view shows passwords of email accounts in hash:

# plesk sbin mail_auth_view | grep john_doe@example.com

| john_doe@example.com |   E | $2y$12$kqkEnpEX1PSx.XXXXXXXXXXXX... |

How to decrypt hashed passwords of email accounts in Plesk?

Answer

Hashed passwords cannot be decrypted. As a workaround, they can be reset via Plesk.

Note: Before resetting the password, temporarily switch to "Symmetric encryption" at Plesk > Tools & Settings > Security Policy (this change affects only newly created passwords).

 

Additional Information

List of cases when the password of an email account is hashed:

• Option "Hashing" is selected at at Plesk > Tools & Settings > Security Policy.
• A domain has been migrated from a non-Plesk server.
• An email account has been created/updated with the encrypted password type version (see passwd_type option on this Plesk Docs page).
• Plesk has been upgraded from version 10 or older releases.