Werk #13325: Two-factor authentication via FIDO2/WebAuthn

Component User interface
Title Two-factor authentication via FIDO2/WebAuthn
Date Dec 26, 2021
Checkmk Edition Checkmk Raw (CRE)
Checkmk Version 2.1.0b1
Level Prominent Change
Class New Feature
Compatibility Compatible - no manual interaction needed

With this change users of the Checkmk user interface can now configure Checkmk to ask for a second factor during user authentication.

The new two-factor authentication is based on FIDO2/WebAuthn. You can use authenticators such as the YubiKey, a USB token, a smart phone, Apple’s Touch ID, and Windows Hello.

To enable the new feature, login to the GUI and open the "User" mega menu on the bottom left of the screen. Then select "Two-factor authentication". On the opened page, you first need to click on "Add credential". Once you click that, your browser will ask you to activate your authenticator. Once done, the registration with your user account should be complete and a new registered credential is displayed.

With this step you have enabled the two-factor authentication for your user account. Future logins will only be possible with the activated authenticator.

If you don't have your authenticator at hand, you can use backup codes. It is recommended to generate these backup codes right away by clicking on "Regenerate backup codes". The resulting page will show you a list of 10 backup codes. Store them in a save place.

Administrators can see that a user has the two-factor authentication enabled in the users list of the Setup. The Authentication column displays "Password (+2FA)" for these users. Admins can disable two-factor authentication for users to help them in case they don't have access to their second factor. This can be done via "Setup > Users > Edit user > Disable two-factor authentication".

Please note that the WebAuthn standard makes this feature only usable in case you access the GUI using HTTPS.

The WebAuthn two-factor authentication is also restrictive on the type of host address you use to access the GUI. It will be used as relying party identifier (https://www.w3.org/TR/webauthn-2/#relying-party-identifier) and has to be a valid domain string (https://url.spec.whatwg.org/#valid-domain-string). You will have to either use a simple host name or a full qualified domain name. Please note that you need to be consistent in the domain you use for the two-factor authentication to work.

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