My app can not connect and the SQL Server log shows "Login failed for user 'appuser'. Reason: Password did not match" with State 8. Other times I have seen State 5 and State 38. What do the numbers mean?
SQL Server error 18456: what do the login failed states mean?
Resolved
SQL
VQ
Victor Quinn October 26, 2026
2 replies
2,127 views
Reviewed by moderators
2 participants
The message the client sees is vague on purpose, but the server error log has the real state. The common ones:
• State 5: the login does not exist.
• State 7: the login is disabled.
• State 8: the password is wrong.
• State 11 or 12: the login is valid but does not have server access.
• State 38 (SQL 2008 and later): the database named in the connection string is missing or the login has no access to it.
• State 58: the server accepts only Windows authentication, while the client uses a SQL login.
For your State 8, reset the password with ALTER LOGIN appuser WITH PASSWORD = 'new password'; and update the app's connection string. Also check that the connection string does not contain an old password cached in a config file.
The config file had an old password. Updated and the login works. Thanks.