diff --git a/src/Controllers/ServerController.php b/src/Controllers/ServerController.php
index f8690d2..4be2504 100755
--- a/src/Controllers/ServerController.php
+++ b/src/Controllers/ServerController.php
@@ -1560,12 +1560,18 @@ class ServerController
                 }
 
                 $homeFlag = $createHome ? '-m' : '-M';
-                $cmd = "sudo useradd {$homeFlag} -p \$(sudo openssl passwd -6 '{$password}')";
+                $groupsFlag = '';
                 if (!empty($groups)) {
                     $sanitized = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9_,-]/', '', $groups);
-                    $cmd .= " -G {$sanitized}";
+                    $groupsFlag = " -G {$sanitized}";
+                }
+                $cmd = "sudo useradd {$homeFlag}{$groupsFlag} {$username} 2>&1; echo EXIT:\$?";
+                $result = $ssh->exec($cmd);
+                $exitCode = (int) trim(explode('EXIT:', $result['output'] ?? 'EXIT:-1')[1] ?? '-1');
+                if ($exitCode === 0) {
+                    $b64 = base64_encode("{$username}:{$password}");
+                    $ssh->exec("echo {$b64} | base64 -d | sudo chpasswd 2>&1");
                 }
-                $cmd .= " {$username} 2>&1; echo EXIT:\$?";
 
                 $result = $ssh->exec($cmd);
                 $exitCode = (int) trim(explode('EXIT:', $result['output'] ?? 'EXIT:-1')[1] ?? '-1');