Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) has been an important research topic in the field of stainless steel, and also an urgent engineering problem to be solved in many industries. SCC is the result of the interaction of material, environment and stress. Because of its complexity, there are many different opinions on the SCC mechanism of stainless steel. However, after nearly a century of research, the SCC of stainless steel can be prevented from the aspects of material selection and environmental control. The characteristics, mechanism and three influencing factors of SCC, i.e. stress, material and environment were reviewed. The anodic dissolution mechanism and hydrogen induced cracking mechanism of stress corrosion were summarized. The slip dissolution mechanism, oxide film cracking mechanism and hydrogen induced cracking mechanism of SCC of stainless steel were discussed. The influence of microstructure on SCC was summed up, the relationship between the addition of material components such as Ni, Mo and N and stress corrosion sensitivity was analyzed, the role of environmental factors in SCC was concluded, the stress corrosion law of stainless steel in specific medium was summarized, and the effect of temperature on SCC of stainless steel was discussed. The research progress of the methods for controlling SCC of stainless steel in recent years was introduced, such as grain boundary engineering, grain refinement and coating. Finally, the future research direction of SCC of stainless steel was prospected.