AWS Cognito Pools Ship With MFA and Advanced Security Disabled by Default

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Amazon Cognito user pools, which control application authentication and JWT issuance, are created with both MFA and Advanced Security Mode turned off by default. These two disabled settings leave applications vulnerable to credential stuffing, password spraying, and phishing-based account takeovers, since no second factor or risk-based challenge is required to complete sign-in. A publicly disclosed HackerOne report detailed how these defaults enabled a full account-takeover chain when combined with unverified email-change flows, allowing an attacker to reset a victim's password and gain immediate session access. Cognito's Advanced Security feature, which flags anomalous sign-ins such as impossible travel or known compromised credentials, is paywalled and inactive unless operators explicitly enable it. Security researchers warn that both settings are routinely left at their insecure defaults and shipped to production, making them a recurring source of identity-layer vulnerabilities.

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Five steps to secure payment webhooks and prevent fraudulent order fulfilment

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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