cognitoidentityprovider_respond_to_auth_challenge: Some API operations in a user pool generate a challenge, like a prompt for an MFA code, for device authentication that bypasses MFA, or for a custom authentication challenge

Description

Some API operations in a user pool generate a challenge, like a prompt for an MFA code, for device authentication that bypasses MFA, or for a custom authentication challenge. A respond_to_auth_challenge API request provides the answer to that challenge, like a code or a secure remote password (SRP). The parameters of a response to an authentication challenge vary with the type of challenge.

See https://www.paws-r-sdk.com/docs/cognitoidentityprovider_respond_to_auth_challenge/ for full documentation.

Usage

cognitoidentityprovider_respond_to_auth_challenge(
  ClientId,
  ChallengeName,
  Session = NULL,
  ChallengeResponses = NULL,
  AnalyticsMetadata = NULL,
  UserContextData = NULL,
  ClientMetadata = NULL
)

Arguments

ClientId

[required] The app client ID.

ChallengeName

[required] The challenge name. For more information, see initiate_auth.

ADMIN_NO_SRP_AUTH isn't a valid value.

Session

The session that should be passed both ways in challenge-response calls to the service. If initiate_auth or respond_to_auth_challenge API call determines that the caller must pass another challenge, they return a session with other challenge parameters. This session should be passed as it is to the next respond_to_auth_challenge API call.

ChallengeResponses

The responses to the challenge that you received in the previous request. Each challenge has its own required response parameters. The following examples are partial JSON request bodies that highlight challenge-response parameters.

You must provide a SECRET_HASH parameter in all challenge responses to an app client that has a client secret. Include a DEVICE_KEY for device authentication.

SELECT_CHALLENGE

"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "USERNAME": "[username]", "ANSWER": "[Challenge name]"}

Available challenges are PASSWORD, PASSWORD_SRP, EMAIL_OTP, SMS_OTP, and WEB_AUTHN.

Complete authentication in the SELECT_CHALLENGE response for PASSWORD, PASSWORD_SRP, and WEB_AUTHN:

"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "ANSWER": "WEB_AUTHN", "USERNAME": "[username]", "CREDENTIAL": "[AuthenticationResponseJSON]"}

See AuthenticationResponseJSON.
"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "ANSWER": "PASSWORD", "USERNAME": "[username]", "PASSWORD": "[password]"}
"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "ANSWER": "PASSWORD_SRP", "USERNAME": "[username]", "SRP_A": "[SRP_A]"}

For SMS_OTP and EMAIL_OTP, respond with the username and answer. Your user pool will send a code for the user to submit in the next challenge response.

"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "ANSWER": "SMS_OTP", "USERNAME": "[username]"}
"ChallengeName": "SELECT_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": { "ANSWER": "EMAIL_OTP", "USERNAME": "[username]"}

SMS_OTP

"ChallengeName": "SMS_OTP", "ChallengeResponses": {"SMS_OTP_CODE": "[code]", "USERNAME": "[username]"}

EMAIL_OTP

"ChallengeName": "EMAIL_OTP", "ChallengeResponses": {"EMAIL_OTP_CODE": "[code]", "USERNAME": "[username]"}

SMS_MFA

"ChallengeName": "SMS_MFA", "ChallengeResponses": {"SMS_MFA_CODE": "[code]", "USERNAME": "[username]"}

PASSWORD_VERIFIER

This challenge response is part of the SRP flow. Amazon Cognito requires that your application respond to this challenge within a few seconds. When the response time exceeds this period, your user pool returns a NotAuthorizedException error.

"ChallengeName": "PASSWORD_VERIFIER", "ChallengeResponses": {"PASSWORD_CLAIM_SIGNATURE": "[claim_signature]", "PASSWORD_CLAIM_SECRET_BLOCK": "[secret_block]", "TIMESTAMP": [timestamp], "USERNAME": "[username]"}

Add "DEVICE_KEY" when you sign in with a remembered device.

CUSTOM_CHALLENGE

"ChallengeName": "CUSTOM_CHALLENGE", "ChallengeResponses": {"USERNAME": "[username]", "ANSWER": "[challenge_answer]"}

Add "DEVICE_KEY" when you sign in with a remembered device.

NEW_PASSWORD_REQUIRED

"ChallengeName": "NEW_PASSWORD_REQUIRED", "ChallengeResponses": {"NEW_PASSWORD": "[new_password]", "USERNAME": "[username]"}

To set any required attributes that initiate_auth returned in an requiredAttributes parameter, add "userAttributes.[attribute_name]": "[attribute_value]". This parameter can also set values for writable attributes that aren't required by your user pool.

In a NEW_PASSWORD_REQUIRED challenge response, you can't modify a required attribute that already has a value. In respond_to_auth_challenge, set a value for any keys that Amazon Cognito returned in the requiredAttributes parameter, then use the update_user_attributes API operation to modify the value of any additional attributes.

SOFTWARE_TOKEN_MFA

"ChallengeName": "SOFTWARE_TOKEN_MFA", "ChallengeResponses": {"USERNAME": "[username]", "SOFTWARE_TOKEN_MFA_CODE": [authenticator_code]}

DEVICE_SRP_AUTH

"ChallengeName": "DEVICE_SRP_AUTH", "ChallengeResponses": {"USERNAME": "[username]", "DEVICE_KEY": "[device_key]", "SRP_A": "[srp_a]"}

DEVICE_PASSWORD_VERIFIER

"ChallengeName": "DEVICE_PASSWORD_VERIFIER", "ChallengeResponses": {"DEVICE_KEY": "[device_key]", "PASSWORD_CLAIM_SIGNATURE": "[claim_signature]", "PASSWORD_CLAIM_SECRET_BLOCK": "[secret_block]", "TIMESTAMP": [timestamp], "USERNAME": "[username]"}

MFA_SETUP

"ChallengeName": "MFA_SETUP", "ChallengeResponses": {"USERNAME": "[username]"}, "SESSION": "[Session ID from VerifySoftwareToken]"

SELECT_MFA_TYPE

"ChallengeName": "SELECT_MFA_TYPE", "ChallengeResponses": {"USERNAME": "[username]", "ANSWER": "[SMS_MFA or SOFTWARE_TOKEN_MFA]"}

For more information about SECRET_HASH, see Computing secret hash values. For information about DEVICE_KEY, see Working with user devices in your user pool.

AnalyticsMetadata

The Amazon Pinpoint analytics metadata that contributes to your metrics for respond_to_auth_challenge calls.

UserContextData

Contextual data about your user session, such as the device fingerprint, IP address, or location. Amazon Cognito advanced security evaluates the risk of an authentication event based on the context that your app generates and passes to Amazon Cognito when it makes API requests.

For more information, see Collecting data for threat protection in applications.

ClientMetadata

A map of custom key-value pairs that you can provide as input for any custom workflows that this action triggers.

You create custom workflows by assigning Lambda functions to user pool triggers. When you use the RespondToAuthChallenge API action, Amazon Cognito invokes any functions that are assigned to the following triggers: post authentication, pre token generation, define auth challenge, create auth challenge, and verify auth challenge. When Amazon Cognito invokes any of these functions, it passes a JSON payload, which the function receives as input. This payload contains a clientMetadata attribute, which provides the data that you assigned to the ClientMetadata parameter in your RespondToAuthChallenge request. In your function code in Lambda, you can process the clientMetadata value to enhance your workflow for your specific needs.

For more information, see Customizing user pool Workflows with Lambda Triggers in the Amazon Cognito Developer Guide.

When you use the ClientMetadata parameter, note that Amazon Cognito won't do the following:

Store the ClientMetadata value. This data is available only to Lambda triggers that are assigned to a user pool to support custom workflows. If your user pool configuration doesn't include triggers, the ClientMetadata parameter serves no purpose.
Validate the ClientMetadata value.
Encrypt the ClientMetadata value. Don't send sensitive information in this parameter.