Overcoming MFA Test Automation Challenges

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has become an essential tool for safeguarding sensitive systems. As businesses strive to comply with regulatory requirements, the integration of MFA into workflows is now standard practice. However, automating tests for MFA-enabled systems poses unique challenges for QA teams.

In this article, we will focus on a critical topic: what challenges arise when testing workflows with MFA, and what strategies can help overcome them?

Key Challenges in MFA Test Automation

Dependency on External Devices

By design, MFA relies on external devices, such as phones, to receive SMS or apps to generate TOTP codes. This reliance complicates test automation, especially when multiple accounts are involved.

• Email MFA: QA teams commonly use alias-based email structures (e.g., [email protected]) to streamline account creation. However, these methods might be limited or disabled in corporate settings, complicating automation efforts.
• SMS MFA: Each user account typically requires a unique phone number. This leads to logistical issues, such as managing physical SIM cards or sharing test phones, which undermines efficiency and scalability.
• TOTP MFA: Time-based one-time passwords require secure handling of private keys. Automating tests becomes intricate, as these keys are usually inaccessible after initialization.

Limited Automation Feasibility

MFA workflows interact with external systems, making them hard to automate and often impractical, particularly for third-party services like email providers (e.g., Outlook). Automating such interactions is resource-intensive and often restricted by service providers that block bot connections.

Risky Approach #1: Disabling MFA in Test Environments

To save time, some teams disable MFA in testing environments. While expedient, this approach introduces significant risks:

• Increased security risk: Accounts become less secure in testing environments as MFA becomes optional, and divergent behavior from the production environment undermines test validity.
• Less representative tests: Tests fail to reflect real-world production conditions, increasing the likelihood of undetected bugs surfacing in production.
• Human errors: Configuration differences between testing and production environments complicate deployments, sometimes resulting in accidental policy misconfigurations in production.
• Incomplete tests: Key steps like login processes or transaction validation are skipped, reducing the ability to detect issues in critical functionalities.

Risky Approach #2: Intercepting MFA in Testing Environments

While better than disabling MFA, this approach still risks configuration divergence between environments and potential errors during deployment.

A Costly But Effective Approach: Interfacing With Third-Party Providers

Collaborating with service providers offering APIs (for email, SMS, or voice) can streamline MFA test automation. Tools like Cypress or Robot Framework can help interface with these APIs to retrieve MFA codes automatically. However, proactive communication with providers is crucial, as they may restrict automated access to their systems.

Strategies for Automating and Testing End-to-End MFA Workflows

Align Testing Environments With Production

Ensuring parity between testing and production environments is essential for identifying potential issues effectively. Leveraging tools to retrieve MFA codes via email, SMS, or APIs can offer several benefits:

• Improved UX/UI detection: Reproducing production conditions helps identify anomalies in the user experience or interface.
• Load management: Testing under production-like constraints uncovers system weaknesses, such as throttling issues or usage limits for MFA services.
• Third-party service validation: Verifies proper integrations and ensures messages aren't lost. Load testing can also reveal vulnerabilities under heavy usage.

Collaborative Manual Testing Solutions

For manual testing, collaborative solutions can simplify MFA management within QA teams:

• Email: Use shared mailboxes with aliases (e.g., [email protected]) to centralize code reception. Alternatively, virtual mailbox services offer practical solutions for managing email MFA workflows.
• SMS: Different solutions private virtual phone numbers, avoiding physical devices.
• TOTP: Securely share secret keys using password managers like Bitwarden or 1Password. This enables teams to access temporary codes without physical devices while managing key access effectively.

Automation Tools for MFA Testing

Automating MFA tests requires tools that simplify interactions with authentication mechanisms. Specialized APIs streamline this process, reducing the need for complex manual integrations. Examples include:

• Email APIs: Online services allow generating temporary email addresses to automate code retrieval via APIs.
• SMS APIs: Virtual phone number providers simplify automating SMS MFA workflows.
• TOTP APIs: Providers offer solutions for importing private TOTP keys and exposing OTP codes via APIs.

Final Thoughts

MFA-enforced flows are among the most important workflows for your users as they safeguard privileged, high-impact actions. These flows are essential to ensuring that users can securely log in and perform sensitive transactions, maintaining both functionality and security.

Effectively testing workflows that incorporate multi-factor authentication presents challenges for QA teams, often leading to the disabling of MFA in test environments. However, comprehensive testing is crucial to ensure the reliability and security of production systems. The complexities of automating MFA tests — such as managing external devices and interacting with third-party services — highlight the risks of simplistic approaches, which can compromise system security, test relevancy, and user experience.

Utilising specialised tools can bridge the gap between test and production environments. These tools offer private phone numbers, email addresses, and TOTP key injection, enabling secure and efficient testing of MFA flows without compromising security. This ensures that MFA workflows function as intended in a precise and replicable manner and allows you to detect potential issues before reaching the production environment.

Investing in comprehensive MFA testing with solutions safeguards system integrity, fosters user trust, simplifies security compliance, and supports seamless operational efficiency.