WinHttpSetCredentials function (winhttp.h)

Article
05/24/2022

The WinHttpSetCredentials function passes the required authorization credentials to the server.

Syntax

WINHTTPAPI BOOL WinHttpSetCredentials(
  [in] HINTERNET hRequest,
  [in] DWORD     AuthTargets,
  [in] DWORD     AuthScheme,
  [in] LPCWSTR   pwszUserName,
  [in] LPCWSTR   pwszPassword,
  [in] LPVOID    pAuthParams
);

Parameters

[in] hRequest

Valid HINTERNET handle returned by WinHttpOpenRequest.

[in] AuthTargets

An unsigned integer that specifies a flag that contains the authentication target. Can be one of the values in the following table.

Value	Meaning
WINHTTP_AUTH_TARGET_SERVER	Credentials are passed to a server.
WINHTTP_AUTH_TARGET_PROXY	Credentials are passed to a proxy.

[in] AuthScheme

An unsigned integer that specifies a flag that contains the authentication scheme. Must be one of the supported authentication schemes returned from WinHttpQueryAuthSchemes. The following table identifies the possible values.

Value	Meaning
WINHTTP_AUTH_SCHEME_BASIC	Use basic authentication.
WINHTTP_AUTH_SCHEME_NTLM	Use NTLM authentication.
WINHTTP_AUTH_SCHEME_PASSPORT	Use passport authentication.
WINHTTP_AUTH_SCHEME_DIGEST	Use digest authentication.
WINHTTP_AUTH_SCHEME_NEGOTIATE	Selects between NTLM and Kerberos authentication.

[in] pwszUserName

Pointer to a string that contains a valid user name.

[in] pwszPassword

Pointer to a string that contains a valid password. The password can be blank.

[in] pAuthParams

This parameter is reserved and must be NULL.

Return value

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. For extended error information, call GetLastError. The following table identifies the error codes returned.

Error Code	Description
ERROR_WINHTTP_INCORRECT_HANDLE_STATE	The requested operation cannot be carried out because the handle supplied is not in the correct state.
ERROR_WINHTTP_INCORRECT_HANDLE_TYPE	The type of handle supplied is incorrect for this operation.
ERROR_WINHTTP_INTERNAL_ERROR	An internal error has occurred.
ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY	Not enough memory was available to complete the requested operation (Windows error code).

Remarks

Even when WinHTTP is used in asynchronous mode (that is, when WINHTTP_FLAG_ASYNC has been set in WinHttpOpen), this function operates synchronously. The return value indicates success or failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

The credentials set by WinHttpSetCredentials are only used for a single request; WinHTTP does not cache these credentials for use in subsequent requests. As a result, applications must be written so that they can respond to multiple challenges. If an authenticated connection is re-used, subsequent requests cannot be challenged, but your code should be able to respond to a challenge at any point.

For sample code that illustrates the use of WinHttpSetCredentials, see Authentication in WinHTTP.

Note When using Passport authentication and responding to a 407 status code, a WinHTTP application must use WinHttpSetOption to provide proxy credentials rather than WinHttpSetCredentials. This is only true when using Passport authentication; in all other circumstances, use WinHttpSetCredentials, because WinHttpSetOption is less secure.

Note For Windows XP and Windows 2000, see the Run-Time Requirements section of the WinHttp start page.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional with SP3 [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server with SP3 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winhttp.h
Library	Winhttp.lib
DLL	Winhttp.dll
Redistributable	WinHTTP 5.0 and Internet Explorer 5.01 or later on Windows XP and Windows 2000.