Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email Reviews, Downloads & Maintenance

A simple, lightweight, yet effective plugin to enable two factor (2FA) authentication via email. You can enable this on an individual user basis, for all administrators, editors, or all accounts with one line of code in your wp-config.php file.

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS), with over 40% of all websites running on it. As such, it has become a prime target for hackers looking to exploit vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to websites. One of the best ways to enhance the security of a WordPress site is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for administrators.

Simply enable the plugin then edit a user account to enable 2FA for that individual user.
Please make sure your WordPress website sends and receives emails correctly. The best way is to use a SMTP plugin.

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Installation

Use the automatic installer via WordPress or download the plugin and:

Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/two-factor-2fa-via-email directory.
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress.
Navigate to your profile or any other users and enable to toggle 2FA to enable per account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Help! I’m locked out!

If you are not receiving the email to login then in order to regain access to your account, you’ll have to disable the plugin. The only way to do this is by renaming the plugin folder from two-factor-2fa-via-email to two-factor-2fa-via-email.backup or equivalent.

15 minutes is too long/short for me. Can this be changed?

Yes! As of version 1.5.2 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_LINK_EXPIRES_MINUTES', 10);

Where the number 10 is, change this to whatever value (in minutes) you prefer.

Can I enable this for every Administrator?

Yes! As of version 1.6 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ADMINS', true);

Can I enable this for every Editor?

Yes! As of version 1.6 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_EDITORS', true);

Can I enable this for every Contributor?

Yes! As of version 1.9.2 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_CONTRIBUTORS', true);

Can I enable this for every Subscriber?

Yes! As of version 1.7.1 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_SUBSCRIBERS', true);

Can I enable this for every account?

Yes! As of version 1.6 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ALL', true);

Can I change who receives the plugin deactivated email?

Yes! As of version 1.6 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL', '[email protected]');

Change [email protected] to your preferred email.

How do I disable 2FA on the REST API?

Yes! As of version 1.9 you can now add a defined constant to your wp-config.php file;

define('SS88_2FAVE_API_DISABLE_ALL', true);

How can I redirect users to a URL after logging in?

As of version 1.9.1 you can use the filter SS88_2FAVE_custom_redirect like so:

add_filter('SS88_2FAVE_custom_redirect', function($URL) {

    if(current_user_can('editor')) return 'https://custom.com/page/here';
    else return $URL;

});

Can I override the isEnabled function?

As of version 1.9.1 you can use the filter SS88_2FAVE_isEnabled like so:

add_filter('SS88_2FAVE_isEnabled', function($isEnabled, $UserID, $type) {

    // $isEnabled = Prior value
    // $UserID = ID of user
    // $type = Values are API or LOGIN

    return $isEnabled;

}, 10, 3);

Please note that if you have SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ALL, SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ADMINS, SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_EDITORS, SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_CONTRIBUTORS, SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_SUBSCRIBERS, or SS88_2FAVE_API_DISABLE_ALL set, the filter SS88_2FAVE_isEnabled will not work.

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Screenshots

Under each user account settings, you can click the toggle to turn 2FA on/off.
When 2FA is enabled, the user will see this screen after a log-in.
An example of an error screen.
An email sent to the site admin when the 2FA plugin is disabled.

Changelog

1.9.8

Thank you for 10,000+ active installations! 🙂
Fix: REST API authentication

1.9.7

PHP Warning fix on new user

1.9.6

Integrated Initialization Vector
Canged Cipher to AES-256-CBC
Added ‘pretty formatting’ when token decrption fails

1.9.5

UX improvement: Refresh 2FA Page with countdown when user is sucessfully logged in

1.9.4

Improved header_remove() function by only removing Set-Cookie

1.9.3

A new constant has been integrated which can be added in wp-config.php to override individual user settings to force 2FA to be enabled for Contributors. Add SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_CONTRIBUTORS to your wp-config.php i.e. define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_CONTRIBUTORS', true);.

1.9.2

Added PHP’s header_remove(); function upon logging in. Seems to solve 502 ad 503 issues, especially with GoDaddy.

1.9.1

A new filter SS88_2FAVE_custom_redirect was added. You can now override the final URL where users are redirect to after sucessfully logging in. See example in FAQs.
A new filter SS88_2FAVE_isEnabled was added. You can now override if 2FA is enabled. See example in FAQs.

1.9

The REST API (by default) has 2FA enabled. There are now new settings to disable it on an individual user basis by using the user edit screen.
A new constant SS88_2FAVE_API_DISABLE_ALL was added to completely disable the 2FA on the REST API.

1.8

Added 1.7.1 to trunk in WP Plugin Directory for rollback compatibility
We are now using $priority 1 on the wp_login hook
Added theme/folder compatibility. As of v1.4 developers could add ss88-2fa-page.php to their theme directory. We now support an additional directory ss88-2fa i.e. wp-content/themes/xxx/ss88-2fa/2fa-page.php. v1.4 functionality will be removed in a future release in favor for the new directory ss88-2fa.
Added support for advanced developers to use a custom 2FA email. You can now override the 2FA email by copying assets/html/login-email.php to your theme’s directory. Upload this file to wp-content/themes/xxx/ss88-2fa/login-email.php to customize it!

1.7.1

A new constant has been integrated which can be added in wp-config.php to override individual user settings to force 2FA to be enabled for Subscribers. Add SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_SUBSCRIBERS to your wp-config.php i.e. define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_SUBSCRIBERS', true);.

1.7

Localization integration

1.6.4

Integration with the default Remember Me checkbox from WordPress

1.6.3

Integration with Ultimate Member

1.6.2

Removed accidental code forcing everyone who logged in to receive a 2FA screen

1.6.1

Deactivation fatal error fix

1.6

New Features:
Wording changed when SMTP is not enabled.
The plugin now sends an email to the site admin if the plugin is deactivated. The email can be overridden by defining the constant SS88_2FAVE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL in wp-config.php i.e. define('SS88_2FAVE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL', '[email protected]');
Three new constants added which can be added in wp-config.php to override individual user settings to force 2FA to be enabled. They are: SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ALL (to enable for every single account), SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ADMINS (to enable only for Administrators), and SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_EDITORS (to enable for Editors) i.e. define('SS88_2FAVE_ENABLE_ALL', true);.

1.5.2

Replaced sanitize_url in favor of esc_url
Added a new constant SS88_2FAVE_LINK_EXPIRES_MINUTES so that users can define their own link expiry time in minutes
Added a JavaScript countdown timer to the login page

1.5.1

Email content fix

1.5

‘Fancy’ emails
Moving files into appropriate folders
Re-order of security features when logging in

1.4

Added PHP_INT_MAX to wp_login hook
Added support for advanced developers to use a custom 2FA template. You can now override the 2FA page by copying assets/2fa-page.php to your theme’s directory. Upload this file to wp-content/themes/xxx/ss88-2fa-page.php to customize it!

1.3

Fixed ‘dismiss’ link on notification
Added support for SMTP Mailer check

1.2

Added support link to plugin page

1.1

Fix openssl key
Fix echo’ing

1.0

Initial release.

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