MFA Won't Save You From OAuth Consent Abuse

Key Takeaways

• OAuth consent abuse attacks can bypass multi-factor authentication by tricking users into granting third-party applications access to their accounts through legitimate OAuth consent flows that MFA does not protect.
• Attackers exploit the implicit trust in OAuth permission prompts, where users unknowingly approve malicious applications that then gain persistent API-level access to email, files, and other sensitive data regardless of MFA status.
• Organizations should implement OAuth consent policies, application access reviews, and user awareness training focused on recognizing legitimate versus malicious consent requests to defend against these MFA-bypassing attacks.