Security Key

Authelia supports hardware-based second factors leveraging FIDO2 WebAuthn compatible security keys like YubiKey’s.

Security keys are among the most secure second factor. This method is already supported by many major applications and platforms like Google, Facebook, GitHub, some banks, and much more.

Normally, the protocol requires your security key to be enrolled on each site before being able to authenticate with it. Since Authelia provides Single Sign-On, your users will need to enroll their device only once to get access to all your applications.

After having successfully passed the first factor, select Security Key method and click on Register device link. This will send you an email to verify your identity.

NOTE: This e-mail has likely been sent to the mailbox at https://mail.example.com:8080/ if you’re testing Authelia.

Confirm your identity by clicking on Register and you’ll be asked to touch the token of your security key to complete the enrollment.

Upon successful enrollment, you can authenticate using your security key by simply touching the token again when requested:

Easy, right?!

Frequently Asked Questions#

Can I register multiple FIDO2 WebAuthn credentials?#

Yes, as of v4.38.0 and above Authelia supports registering multiple WebAuthn credentials as per the roadmap.

Can I perform a passwordless login?#

Yes, as of v4.39.0 and above Authelia supports passwordless logins via Passkeys as per the roadmap.

Why does it ask me for my password after using a Passkey to login?#

This exists to ensure the two_factor policy is enforced. The Passkey itself is a single factor and we do have plans to offer very granular control policies and their requirements. For example it will likely be possible to create your own custom policy equal to two_factor today which also considers a single Passkey login as satisfactory for a particular access control policy.

In the meantime the configuration has an experimental option to allow Passkey authenticators which support user verification, that perform user verification, and that report they performed user verification; to count as satisfying two_factor.

Why don’t I have access to the Security Key option?#

The WebAuthn protocol is a new protocol that is only supported by modern browsers. Please ensure your browser is up to date, supports WebAuthn, and that the feature is not disabled if the option is not available to you in Authelia.

Can my FIDO U2F device operate with Authelia?#

At the present time there is no plan to support FIDO U2F within Authelia. We do implement a backwards compatible appid extension within Authelia however this only works for devices registered before the upgrade to the FIDO2 WebAuthn protocol.

If there was sufficient interest in supporting registration of old U2F / FIDO devices in Authelia we would consider adding support for this after or at the same time of the multi-device enhancements.