2FA login not working

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Hi everyone!

Recently, two of my technicians were having difficulty logging into the Hexnode portal. They were getting an error message saying that the verification code that they had entered is wrong. Does the TOTP authentication have any relation with the time zone of the device?

It would be really helpful if someone could help me with this.

Thanks in advance!

All Replies

  • Participant

    Aulia

    Participant

    Hey, I’ve also faced the same issue and I couldn’t fix the problem even after I re-configured the authenticator app. The issue was still there and I wasn’t able to login using that technician account. Luckily, we haven’t enabled the 2FA authentication method in the other accounts and we use those accounts now. The one with 2FA authentication method enabled is not being used now since the issue was still present.

  • Hey Heidi,

    Thank you for reaching out to us!

    TOTP authentication is a 2-factor verification method that uses time as the variable parameter. The secret key (password) of your account is the static parameter being used in the authentication method. The TOTP authentication method does not depend on the time zone of your devices. TOTP uses an absolute frame of reference, namely UNIX epoch time, which is defined as the number of seconds that have passed since 00:00:00 UTC, January 1, 1970.

    You can try the following methods to troubleshoot the issue that you’re facing:

    1. If you’re manually setting the time in the device with the authenticator app, you need to ensure that it is synchronized with the selected time zone in the device.
    2. Configure the settings to automatically set the time and date in your device. This will ensure that the device time is always in sync with the selected time zone.
    3. If you are still facing difficulties even after syncing the device time with the time zone, clear the cache of your browser and try again.
    4. Reboot your device and try again.
    5. Install the authenticator app on a different device and check again.

    I hope this solves your issue.

    Cheers!
    Chris Coleman
    Hexnode UEM