Spring Security 7, included with Spring Boot 4, introduces native support for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), a feature developers have been waiting for! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to add MFA to your Spring Boot application using password authentication combined with one-time tokens.

We'll build a complete example from scratch, starting with a new Spring Boot 4 project and walking through every step of implementing MFA. You'll see how Spring Security's elegant solution uses factor granted authorities to track verified authentication methods and intelligently redirects users to complete missing factors.

What You'll Learn
• Understanding MFA and OWASP factor categories (something you know, have, or are)
• Using the @EnableMultiFactorAuthentication annotation
• Setting up form login with one-time token authentication
• How Spring Security's smart redirect handles missing factors
• Creating a custom token service for 5-digit PIN codes
• Debugging Spring Security with trace logging

Resources
💻 GitHub Repo: https://github.com/danvega/mfa
📚 Spring Security 7 Documentation: https://docs.spring.io/spring-security/reference/
🎙️ Spring Office Hours Podcast (Josh Cummings Interview): https://spring-office-hours.transistor.fm/episodes/s4e32-multi-factor-authentication-with-josh-cummings

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Dan Vega

Spring Security 7 (part of Spring Boot 4) introduces built-in multi-factor authentication (MFA) support. The walkthrough covers setting up MFA using the @EnableMultiFactorAuthentication annotation, combining form login (username/password) with one-time token (OTT) login. Key features include smart redirect when a factor is missing, customizable factor authorities with configurable validity durations, and a pluggable OneTimeTokenService interface. A custom PinOneTimeTokenService is demonstrated to replace the default UUID token with a shorter 5-digit PIN. The setup requires minimal configuration and leverages Spring Security's built-in login templates.

Spring Security 7 Adds Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)