You are connected using SQL* Plus to a multitenant container database (CDB) with SYSDBA privileges and execute the following sequence statements: What is the result of the last SET CONTAINER…

PDB_ADMIN cannot have the required privileges for SET CONTAINER because it is a local user; the SET CONTAINER privilege is only meaningful and grantable in a cross-container context available to common users.

Common users are not restricted from using SET CONTAINER; a common user granted the SET CONTAINER privilege WITH ADMIN OPTION can successfully switch between containers, so the restriction applies specifically to local users.

PDB_ADMIN is a local user created within a specific PDB, meaning its scope is limited to that PDB and it has no visibility or authority at the CDB root level. The SET CONTAINER statement requires a common user (one created in the root container, typically with the C## prefix) granted the SET CONTAINER privilege, because only common users have multi-container scope. Since local users cannot cross container boundaries, the statement fails regardless of what privileges have been granted locally.

The target of SET CONTAINER being PDB$SEED is not the reason for the failure; PDB$SEED is a valid target for the statement - the failure is caused by the user type (local), not the destination container.