diff --git a/Doc/library/poplib.rst b/Doc/library/poplib.rst
index 23f20b00e6dc6d..ea19788eae930c 100644
--- a/Doc/library/poplib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/poplib.rst
@@ -245,6 +245,23 @@ A :class:`POP3` instance has the following methods:
    .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
 
+.. method:: POP3.auth(self, mechanism, authobject, *, initial_response_ok=True)
+
+   Authenticate using the POP3 ``AUTH`` command as specified in :rfc:`5034`.
+
+   If *initial_response_ok* is true, ``authobject()`` is called first with no
+   arguments to obtain an optional initial response. It may return :class:`bytes`
+   or :class:`str`; if it returns :const:`None`, no initial response is sent.
+   The returned value is base64-encoded before being sent.
+
+   For each server challenge, ``authobject(challenge)`` is called with the
+   base64-decoded ``bytes`` challenge and must return the client response as
+   :class:`bytes` or :class:`str`. If it returns :const:`None`, an empty response
+   is sent. To abort the exchange, return ``b'*'`` (the client sends ``'*'``).
+
+   .. versionadded:: next
+
+
 Instances of :class:`POP3_SSL` have no additional methods. The interface of this
 subclass is identical to its parent.
 
diff --git a/Lib/poplib.py b/Lib/poplib.py
index 4469bff44b4c45..1f169a468cda11 100644
--- a/Lib/poplib.py
+++ b/Lib/poplib.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 
 # Imports
 
+import base64
+import binascii
 import errno
 import re
 import socket
@@ -46,6 +48,8 @@ class error_proto(Exception): pass
 # 512 characters, including CRLF. We have selected 2048 just to be on
 # the safe side.
 _MAXLINE = 2048
+# maximum number of AUTH challenges we are willing to process (parity with smtplib)
+_MAXCHALLENGE = 5
 
 
 class POP3:
@@ -424,6 +428,79 @@ def stls(self, context=None):
         self._tls_established = True
         return resp
 
+    def auth(self, mechanism, authobject, *, initial_response_ok=True):
+        """Authenticate to the POP3 server using AUTH (RFC 5034)."""
+        mech = mechanism.upper()
+
+        initial = None
+        if initial_response_ok and callable(authobject):
+            initial = authobject()
+        if isinstance(initial, str):
+            initial = initial.encode('ascii', 'strict')
+        if initial is not None and not isinstance(initial, (bytes, bytearray)):
+            raise TypeError('authobject() must return str or bytes for initial response')
+
+        if initial is not None:
+            b64 = base64.b64encode(initial).decode('ascii')
+            cmd = f'AUTH {mech} {b64}'
+            if len(cmd.encode('ascii')) <= 253:
+                self._putcmd(cmd)
+            else:
+                self._putcmd(f'AUTH {mech}')
+        else:
+            self._putcmd(f'AUTH {mech}')
+
+        auth_challenge_count = 0
+        while True:
+            line, _ = self._getline()
+
+            if line.startswith(b'+OK'):
+                return line
+
+            if line.startswith(b'-ERR'):
+                raise error_proto(line.decode('ascii', 'replace'))
+            # Challenge line: "+ <b64>" or just "+" (empty challenge)
+            if line != b'+' and not line.startswith(b'+ '):
+                raise error_proto(f'malformed AUTH challenge line: {line!r}')
+
+            auth_challenge_count += 1
+            if auth_challenge_count > _MAXCHALLENGE:
+                raise error_proto('Server AUTH mechanism infinite loop. Last response: ', repr(line))
+
+            chal = line[1:]
+            if chal.startswith(b' '):
+                chal = chal[1:]
+            chal = chal.rstrip(b'\r\n')
+            if chal:
+                try:
+                    challenge = base64.b64decode(chal, validate=True)
+                except (binascii.Error, ValueError):
+                    self._putcmd('*')
+                    line, _ = self._getline()
+                    raise error_proto(line.decode('ascii', 'replace'))
+            else:
+                challenge = b''
+
+            resp = authobject(challenge)
+            if resp is None:
+                resp = b''
+            if isinstance(resp, str):
+                resp = resp.encode('ascii', 'strict')
+            if not isinstance(resp, (bytes, bytearray)):
+                raise TypeError('authobject(challenge) must return str or bytes')
+
+            if resp == b'*':
+                self._putcmd('*')
+            else:
+                self._putcmd(base64.b64encode(resp).decode('ascii'))
+
+    def auth_plain(self, user, password, authzid=''):
+        """Return an authobject suitable for SASL PLAIN."""
+        def _auth_plain(challenge=None):
+            # Per RFC 4616, the response is: authzid UTF8 NUL authcid UTF8 NUL passwd UTF8
+            return f"{authzid}\0{user}\0{password}"
+        return _auth_plain
+
 
 if HAVE_SSL:
 
@@ -459,6 +536,7 @@ def stls(self, context=None):
             """
             raise error_proto('-ERR TLS session already established')
 
+
     __all__.append("POP3_SSL")
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_poplib.py b/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
index ef2da97f86734a..7d13e589f66584 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Modified by Giampaolo Rodola' to give poplib.POP3 and poplib.POP3_SSL
 # a real test suite
 
+import base64
 import poplib
 import socket
 import os
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@
 
 class DummyPOP3Handler(asynchat.async_chat):
 
-    CAPAS = {'UIDL': [], 'IMPLEMENTATION': ['python-testlib-pop-server']}
+    CAPAS = {'UIDL': [], 'SASL': ['PLAIN'], 'IMPLEMENTATION': ['python-testlib-pop-server']}
     enable_UTF8 = False
 
     def __init__(self, conn):
@@ -59,6 +60,8 @@ def __init__(self, conn):
         self.push('+OK dummy pop3 server ready. <timestamp>')
         self.tls_active = False
         self.tls_starting = False
+        self._auth_pending = False
+        self._auth_mech = None
 
     def collect_incoming_data(self, data):
         self.in_buffer.append(data)
@@ -67,6 +70,20 @@ def found_terminator(self):
         line = b''.join(self.in_buffer)
         line = str(line, 'ISO-8859-1')
         self.in_buffer = []
+
+        if self._auth_pending:
+            self._auth_pending = False
+            if line == '*':
+                self.push('-ERR authentication cancelled')
+                return
+            try:
+                base64.b64decode(line.encode('ascii'))
+            except Exception:
+                self.push('-ERR invalid base64')
+                return
+            self.push('+OK Logged in.')
+            return
+
         cmd = line.split(' ')[0].lower()
         space = line.find(' ')
         if space != -1:
@@ -85,6 +102,28 @@ def handle_error(self):
     def push(self, data):
         asynchat.async_chat.push(self, data.encode("ISO-8859-1") + b'\r\n')
 
+    def cmd_auth(self, arg):
+        parts = arg.split()
+        if not parts:
+            self.push('-ERR missing mechanism')
+            return
+        mech = parts[0].upper()
+        if mech != 'PLAIN':
+            self.push('-ERR unsupported mechanism')
+            return
+        if len(parts) >= 2:
+            try:
+                base64.b64decode(parts[1].encode('ascii'))
+            except Exception:
+                self.push('-ERR invalid base64')
+                return
+            self.push('+OK Logged in.')
+        else:
+            self._auth_pending = True
+            self._auth_mech = mech
+            self.in_buffer.clear()
+            self.push('+ ')
+
     def cmd_echo(self, arg):
         # sends back the received string (used by the test suite)
         self.push(arg)
@@ -286,6 +325,43 @@ def test_pass_(self):
         self.assertOK(self.client.pass_('python'))
         self.assertRaises(poplib.error_proto, self.client.user, 'invalid')
 
+    def test_auth_plain_initial_response(self):
+        secret = b"user\x00adminuser\x00password"
+        resp = self.client.auth("PLAIN", authobject=lambda: secret)
+        self.assertStartsWith(resp, b"+OK")
+
+    def test_auth_plain_challenge_response(self):
+        secret = b"user\x00adminuser\x00password"
+        def authobject():
+            return secret
+        resp = self.client.auth("PLAIN", authobject=authobject)
+        self.assertStartsWith(resp, b"+OK")
+
+    def test_auth_unsupported_mechanism(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(poplib.error_proto):
+            self.client.auth("FOO", authobject=lambda: b"")
+
+    def test_auth_cancel(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(poplib.error_proto):
+            self.client.auth("PLAIN", authobject=lambda chal: b"*", initial_response_ok=False)
+
+    def test_auth_mechanism_case_insensitive(self):
+        secret = b"user\x00adminuser\x00password"
+        # use lowercase mechanism name to ensure server accepts
+        resp = self.client.auth("plain", authobject=lambda: secret)
+        self.assertStartsWith(resp, b"+OK")
+
+    def test_auth_initial_response_str(self):
+        secret = "user\x00adminuser\x00password"  # str, not bytes
+        resp = self.client.auth("PLAIN", authobject=lambda: secret)
+        self.assertStartsWith(resp, b"+OK")
+
+    def test_auth_authobject_returns_str(self):
+        def authobject():
+            return "user\x00adminuser\x00password"
+        resp = self.client.auth("PLAIN", authobject=authobject)
+        self.assertStartsWith(resp, b"+OK")
+
     def test_stat(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.client.stat(), (10, 100))
 
@@ -434,6 +510,9 @@ def __init__(self, conn):
             self.push('+OK dummy pop3 server ready. <timestamp>')
             self.tls_active = True
             self.tls_starting = False
+            # Initialize AUTH state like DummyPOP3Handler to avoid AttributeError
+            self._auth_pending = False
+            self._auth_mech = None
 
 
 @requires_ssl
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-12-15-09-34.gh-issue-64551.NfWlQX.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-12-15-09-34.gh-issue-64551.NfWlQX.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..df18d0f3ae73fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-12-15-09-34.gh-issue-64551.NfWlQX.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+:mod:`poplib`: add :rfc:`5034` ``AUTH`` support.