diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py b/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py
index 662137e595..cad8eff149 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured, PermissionDenied
 from django.middleware.csrf import rotate_token
 from django.utils.crypto import constant_time_compare
 from django.utils.module_loading import import_string
+from django.views.decorators.debug import sensitive_variables
 
 from .signals import user_logged_in, user_logged_out, user_login_failed
 
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ def get_backends():
     return _get_backends(return_tuples=False)
 
 
+@sensitive_variables('credentials')
 def _clean_credentials(credentials):
     """
     Clean a dictionary of credentials of potentially sensitive info before
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ def _get_user_session_key(request):
     return get_user_model()._meta.pk.to_python(request.session[SESSION_KEY])
 
 
+@sensitive_variables('credentials')
 def authenticate(request=None, **credentials):
     """
     If the given credentials are valid, return a User object.
diff --git a/tests/auth_tests/test_auth_backends.py b/tests/auth_tests/test_auth_backends.py
index b6aa1a2833..d01d0b6526 100644
--- a/tests/auth_tests/test_auth_backends.py
+++ b/tests/auth_tests/test_auth_backends.py
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+import sys
 from datetime import date
 from unittest import mock
 
 from django.contrib.auth import (
-    BACKEND_SESSION_KEY, SESSION_KEY, authenticate, get_user, signals,
+    BACKEND_SESSION_KEY, SESSION_KEY, _clean_credentials, authenticate,
+    get_user, signals,
 )
 from django.contrib.auth.backends import BaseBackend, ModelBackend
 from django.contrib.auth.hashers import MD5PasswordHasher
@@ -11,8 +13,10 @@ from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured, PermissionDenied
 from django.http import HttpRequest
 from django.test import (
-    SimpleTestCase, TestCase, modify_settings, override_settings,
+    RequestFactory, SimpleTestCase, TestCase, modify_settings,
+    override_settings,
 )
+from django.views.debug import technical_500_response
 from django.views.decorators.debug import sensitive_variables
 
 from .models import (
@@ -633,6 +637,7 @@ class TypeErrorBackend:
     Always raises TypeError.
     """
 
+    @sensitive_variables('password')
     def authenticate(self, request, username=None, password=None):
         raise TypeError
 
@@ -654,12 +659,50 @@ class AuthenticateTests(TestCase):
     def setUpTestData(cls):
         cls.user1 = User.objects.create_user('test', 'test@example.com', 'test')
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.sensitive_password = 'mypassword'
+
     @override_settings(AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS=['auth_tests.test_auth_backends.TypeErrorBackend'])
     def test_type_error_raised(self):
         """A TypeError within a backend is propagated properly (#18171)."""
         with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
             authenticate(username='test', password='test')
 
+    @override_settings(AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS=['auth_tests.test_auth_backends.TypeErrorBackend'])
+    def test_authenticate_sensitive_variables(self):
+        try:
+            authenticate(username='testusername', password=self.sensitive_password)
+        except TypeError:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+        rf = RequestFactory()
+        response = technical_500_response(rf.get('/'), *exc_info)
+        self.assertNotContains(response, self.sensitive_password, status_code=500)
+        self.assertContains(response, 'TypeErrorBackend', status_code=500)
+        self.assertContains(
+            response,
+            '<tr><td>credentials</td><td class="code">'
+            '<pre>&#39;********************&#39;</pre></td></tr>',
+            html=True,
+            status_code=500,
+        )
+
+    def test_clean_credentials_sensitive_variables(self):
+        try:
+            # Passing in a list to cause an exception
+            _clean_credentials([1, self.sensitive_password])
+        except TypeError:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+        rf = RequestFactory()
+        response = technical_500_response(rf.get('/'), *exc_info)
+        self.assertNotContains(response, self.sensitive_password, status_code=500)
+        self.assertContains(
+            response,
+            '<tr><td>credentials</td><td class="code">'
+            '<pre>&#39;********************&#39;</pre></td></tr>',
+            html=True,
+            status_code=500,
+        )
+
     @override_settings(AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS=(
         'auth_tests.test_auth_backends.SkippedBackend',
         'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',