AWS-IAM-Users-Without-MFA

Owned by Saumitra Das
Last updated: May 31, 2022 by naveen
2 min read

Severity: High

Description: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is not enabled for all IAM users that have a console password.

Remediation Steps:

Perform the following to enable MFA :

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the IAM console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Users.

  3. In the User Name list, choose the name of the intended MFA user.

  4. Choose the Security credentials tab. Next to Assigned MFA device, choose the edit icon.

  5. In the Manage MFA Device wizard, choose A virtual MFA device, and then choose Next Step.

    IAM generates and displays configuration information for the virtual MFA device, including a QR code graphic. The graphic is a representation of the 'secret configuration key' that is available for manual entry on devices that do not support QR codes.

  6. Open your virtual MFA app. (For a list of apps that you can use for hosting virtual MFA devices, see Virtual MFA Applications.) If the virtual MFA app supports multiple accounts (multiple virtual MFA devices), choose the option to create a new account (a new virtual MFA device).

  7. Determine whether the MFA app supports QR codes, and then do one of the following:

    • Use the app to scan the QR code. For example, you might choose the camera icon or choose an option similar to Scan code, and then use the device's camera to scan the code.

    • In the Manage MFA Device wizard, choose Show secret key for manual configuration, and then type the secret configuration key into your MFA app.

    When you are finished, the virtual MFA device starts generating one-time passwords.

  8. In the Manage MFA Device wizard, in the Authentication Code 1 box, type the one-time password that currently appears in the virtual MFA device. Wait up to 30 seconds for the device to generate a new one-time password. Then type the second one-time password into the Authentication Code 2 box. Choose Active Virtual MFA.

Important

  1. Submit your request immediately after generating the codes. If you generate the codes and then wait too long to submit the request, the MFA device successfully associates with the user but the MFA device is out of sync. This happens because time-based one-time passwords (TOTP) expire after a short period of time. If this happens, you can resync the device.

The virtual MFA device is now ready for use with AWS.

Changes in account credentials may take up-to 4 hours to get reflected in the AWS IAM evaluations. The time taken depends on when the last credential report was fetched by the Cloud View service and the time when changes were made in AWS IAM.

Reference:

Assign a virtual MFA device in the AWS Management Console - AWS Identity and Access Management

Blue Hexagon Proprietary