Auth0 MFA Guide

Add Multi-Factor Authentication to protect user accounts and require additional verification for sensitive operations.

Overview

What is MFA?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) requires users to provide two or more verification factors to access their accounts. Auth0 supports multiple MFA factors and enables step-up authentication for sensitive operations.

When to Use This Skill

• Adding MFA to protect user accounts

• Requiring additional verification for sensitive actions (payments, settings changes)

• Implementing adaptive/risk-based authentication

• Meeting compliance requirements (PCI-DSS, SOC2, HIPAA)

MFA Factors Supported

Factor

Type

Description

TOTP

Something you have

Time-based one-time passwords (Google Authenticator, Authy)

SMS

Something you have

One-time codes via text message

Email

Something you have

One-time codes via email

Push

Something you have

Push notifications via Auth0 Guardian app

WebAuthn

Something you have/are

Security keys, biometrics, passkeys

Voice

Something you have

One-time codes via phone call

Recovery Code

Backup

One-time use recovery codes

Key Concepts

Concept

Description

acr_values

Request MFA during authentication

amr claim

Authentication Methods Reference - indicates how user authenticated

Step-up auth

Require MFA for specific actions after initial login

Adaptive MFA

Conditionally require MFA based on risk signals

Step 1: Enable MFA in Tenant

Via Auth0 Dashboard

• Go to Security → Multi-factor Auth

• Enable desired factors (TOTP, SMS, etc.)

• Configure Policies:

• Always - Require MFA for all logins

• Adaptive - Risk-based MFA

• Never - Disable MFA (use step-up instead)

Via Auth0 CLI

# View current MFA configuration

auth0 api get "guardian/factors"

# Enable TOTP (One-time Password)

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/otp" --data '{"enabled": true}'

# Enable SMS

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/sms" --data '{"enabled": true}'

# Enable Push notifications

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/push-notification" --data '{"enabled": true}'

# Enable WebAuthn (Roaming - Security Keys)

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/webauthn-roaming" --data '{"enabled": true}'

# Enable WebAuthn (Platform - Biometrics)

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/webauthn-platform" --data '{"enabled": true}'

# Enable Email

auth0 api put "guardian/factors/email" --data '{"enabled": true}'

Configure MFA Policy

# Set MFA policy: "all-applications" or "confidence-score"

auth0 api patch "guardian/policies" --data '["all-applications"]'

Step 2: Implement Step-Up Authentication

Step-up auth requires MFA for sensitive operations without requiring it for every login.

The acr_values Parameter

Request MFA by including acr_values in your authorization request:

acr_values=http://schemas.openid.net/pape/policies/2007/06/multi-factor

Implementation Pattern

The general pattern for all frameworks:

• Check if user has already completed MFA (inspect amr claim)

• If not, request MFA via acr_values parameter

• Proceed with sensitive action once MFA is verified

For complete framework-specific examples, see Examples Guide:

• React (basic and custom hook)

• Next.js (App Router)

• Vue.js

• Angular

Additional Resources

This skill is split into multiple files for better organization:

Step-Up Examples

Complete code examples for all frameworks:

• React (basic and custom hook patterns)

• Next.js (App Router with API routes)

• Vue.js (composition API)

• Angular (services and components)

Backend Validation

Learn how to validate MFA status on your backend:

• Node.js / Express JWT validation

• Python / Flask validation

• Middleware examples

Advanced Topics

Advanced MFA implementation patterns:

• Adaptive MFA with Auth0 Actions

• Conditional MFA based on risk signals

• MFA Enrollment API

Reference Guide

Common patterns and troubleshooting:

• Remember MFA for 30 days

• MFA for high-value transactions

• MFA status display

• Error handling

• AMR claim values

• Testing strategies

• Security considerations

Related Skills

• auth0-quickstart - Basic Auth0 setup

• auth0-passkeys - WebAuthn/passkey implementation

• auth0-actions - Custom authentication logic

References

• Auth0 MFA Documentation

• Step-Up Authentication

• MFA API

• acr_values Parameter