How to Perform Authenticated Scans on Systems with 2FA Enabled?

Scanning / scan configuration
1

Hi everyone,

I need some assistance with performing authenticated scans on a system that has two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled. Here’s a bit more detail about my situation:

  • System Details: The target system is running Linux.
  • Authentication Method: The system requires 2FA for login, which involves the typical username and password as a first ffactor and FIDO U2F as a secoound factor.

Challenges:

  • Since 2FA requires a second form of authentication after the initial password, I am unsure how to automate the scan without manual intervention for each login attempt.
  • Greenbone currently supports username and password for authentication but does not natively support 2FA.

Questions:

  1. Is there a way to bypass or integrate 2FA into the scanning process to allow for automated authenticated scans?
  2. Are there any specific tools or plugins that can handle 2FA while performing scans?
  3. Has anyone else faced similar issues, and how did you overcome them?

Any guidance, suggestions, best practices or solutions would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

2

Hi,

Typically you use a Key-Based authentication without username and 2FA. That is called machine accounts. Our fine online documentation is showing you, how to archive that with least privileges and maximum security for that use case.

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