How To Fix 00181 - The new and old passwords must have at least & different characters

00181 - Overview

• Message type: E = Error

• Message class: 00 -

• Message number: 181

• Message text: The new and old passwords must have at least & different characters

<ZH>&CAUSE&</>
You entered a new password, but it does not differ from your old
password by a sufficient number of characters.

System Response

The system issues an error message and will not allow you to continue with this transaction until the error is resolved.

How to fix this error?

Choose a password that differs from your old password by at least &V1&
characters. The password you entered differs by only &V2& characters.
<ZU>The number of different characters is calculated as follows:</>
The two strings are made to overlap as much as possible (by searching
for the longest common string and rotating as necessary). The number of
different characters (after comparing character-by-character) returns
the number the system needs.
For example:,,Old password:,,"BDAFAG",,(6 characters)
,,,,New password:,,"ABC DBA",,(7 characters)
,,,,After rotation:,,"DBAABC ",,(7 characters)
,,,,==> Number of different characters = 4

Procedure for System Administrators

The system administrator can specify this value using the profile
parameter <ZH>login/min_password_digits</>.
For more documentation, refer to <ZK>Maintain Profile Parameters</>
(transaction <DS:TRAN.RZ11>RZ11</>)

Error message extract from SAP system. Copyright SAP SE.

00181 - Details

• The SAP error message "00181 The new and old passwords must have at least & different characters" typically occurs when a user attempts to change their password, but the new password does not meet the security requirements set by the system. Specifically, this error indicates that the new password must differ from the old password by a certain number of characters.
  
  Cause:
  
  Password Similarity: The new password is too similar to the old password, violating the system's password policy.
  Password Policy Settings: The SAP system has specific settings that require a minimum number of different characters between the old and new passwords. This is a security measure to prevent users from choosing easily guessable passwords.
  
  
  Solution:
  
  Choose a Stronger Password: When changing your password, ensure that the new password is significantly different from the old one. This means using different characters, numbers, and symbols.
  Check Password Policy: Review the password policy in your SAP system to