In debugging a WordPress MU installation error, I had need to reset my admin password manually. Didn’t solve the problem I had with the login page, but it is still a good hacker’s reference in cases where you need to fix a forgotten admin password in a Wordpress or Wordpress MU installation.
The SQL syntax itself also demonstrates a nice feature of SQL for MySQL, the MD5() function, which is used here to encrypt the password value when inserted into a table. This pattern allows system security remains relatively high even if the database tables’ data become comprimised.