[Solved] Okta Sign-in Error

Okta is one of the leading identity and authentication platforms compatible with both cloud and on-premise directories. They provide a great user experience and support, but you may still run into errors from time to time. These errors can provide an attack vector for malicious actors, so you should resolve them as quickly as possible.

Although most of these errors are not too severe, they may still require a deep technical understanding or a good support team to be resolved. Here, we will help you figure out some major sign-in errors users face while integrating with Okta and their practical solutions.

1. Okta Login Errors

The error is usually generated while logging in to an application in the Okta server.

A TRACKER_ID is assigned to each sign-in error. You can see this in the log statements below.

You can fix these errors by following the given troubleshooting instructions from the Okta support, which we have reiterated below: 

Login Error: Could not validate the following SAML Authnrequest from the partner

Log Statement 

Apr 24 4:20:18 accessgw01 ACCESS AUTHN SAML ERROR USER_AUTHN [TYPE=”SAML_2_0″ TRACKER ID=”882d8b2faf” SOURCE=”<IDP SSO URL>” RESULT=”FAIL” REASON=”Invalid SAML Assertion” REMOTE_IP=”<Remote IP address)” USER_AGENT=”Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebkit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/65.0.3325.181 Safari/537.36″] Requester/RequestDenied: Could not validate the following SAML AuthnRequest from partner <Access Gateway Application Name> :

Fix/Validation

1. Log in to the Access Gateway Admin UI console.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. Select Advanced.
4. Verify that the time is correct.
5. If the time is not correct, click Resync.
6. Click the refresh button to refresh system time and verify that it is current.
7. Test the application to determine if time is synchronized correctly.

Login Error: Received an assertion that is valid in the future

Log Statement 

Apr 13 4:20:09 oag01 ACCESS_GATEWAY ACCESS AUTHN SAML ERROR USER_AUTHN [TYPE=”SAML_2_0″ TRACKER ID=”882d8b2faf” SOURCE=”<IDP SSO URL>” RESULT=”FAIL” REASON=”Invalid SAML Assertion” REMOTE_IP=”<Remote IP address)” USER_AGENT=”Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebkit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/65.0.3325.181 Safari/537.36″] Received an assertion that is valid in the future. Check clock synchronization on IdP and SP.

Fix/Validation

1. Log in to the Access Gateway Management console.
2. Select the Service option, and then select the NTP option.
3. Choose the option to restart the NTP service.
4. Check the time in the Access Gateway web console.
5. Test the application.

Login Error: Received an assertion that has expired

Log Statement 

Apr 24 6:20:11 oag01 ACCESS_GATEWAY ACCESS AUTHN SAML ERROR USER_AUTHN [TYPE=”SAML_2_0″ TRACKER_ID=”d7703c1360″ SOURCE=”<IDP SSO URL>” RESULT=”FAIL” REASON=”Invalid SAML Assertion” REMOTE_IP=”<Remote IP address>” USER_AGENT=”Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebkit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/65.0.3325.181 Safari/537.36″] Received an assertion that has expired. Check clock.

Fix/Validation

1. Log in to the Access Gateway Management console.
2. Select the Service option, and then select the NTP option.
3. Select the Set System Time option.
4. Enter the time in MON DD YYYY HH:MI: SS AM/PM format.
5. Check the time in the Access Gateway Admin UI console and ensure it matches.
6. Test and Run the application.

Login Error: The browser does not trust the domain and does not post SAML requests.

This is a common error that can occur if a user keeps re-posting SAML assertions or if an error occurs in the process of accepting a self-signed SSL certificate. This can be fixed easily by following either of the given instructions by the Okta support.

Log Statement

Apr 14 4:19:44 ACCESS ERROR [3137b1cb3f] Caused by: Exception: Unable to find the current binding.

Fix/Validation Steps 1

1. Open the returned certificate.
2. Check the validity of the certificate.
3. If the certificate is not valid, request a new certificate and update it in the Access Gateway Management console.
4. Test the application.

Fix/Validation Steps 2

1. Check if the browser trusts the URL of the application.
2. Add the URL of the application and all other Access Gateway endpoints under the trusted zone settings in the browser.
3. Restart the browser.
4. Test the application.

2. Error – Users and administrators cannot log into Okta

Sometimes AD (Active Directory) users are unable to log in to Okta. This error is most prevalent in organizations with Delegated Authentication-enabled accounts and AD-mastered users. It is generally caused by the failure of users to connect to AD agents.

This error can be resolved by following the given instructions by Okta support:

1. In Okta Admin Console, navigate to Directory>Directory Integrations.
2. Click the Active Directory instance containing the users who cannot log in to the portal.
3. Click the Settings tab and ensure that at least one AD Agent is reporting as “Active and Healthy.”

• If AD Agent is reporting as “not connected,” restart the Okta AD Agent service from the server’s Services console.

• If AD Agent Service does not start properly:

1. Right-click the Okta AD Agent service and click Properties.
2. Click the Log On Tab.
3. Verify whether an active AD Account is entered as the Log on the account.
4. Enter the password again.
5. Then you can uninstall and reinstall the AD Agent if it still fails to start.

• If AD Agent Service starts but Okta still reports status as “Not Connected:”

1. By browsing your Okta tenant, verify network connectivity from the AD Agent Service server.
2. Stop and restart the Okta AD Agent service.
3. Uninstall and reinstall the Okta AD Agent If connectivity still fails.

3. Error – Okta admin is getting an error “Sign in Denied.”

In this error, the Okta administrator cannot log into the Admin console and usually gets an error response like “Sign in Denied – You don’t have permission to access your account at this time.”

Here, access is denied upon accessing the Admin console because MFA for Admin is enabled, but the admin doesn’t have any enrolled factors.

Fortunately, the fix to this error is plain and simple. Just configure one or more MFA-compliant authentication factors. You can follow the steps suggested below by Okta Support to fix this quickly.

• The admin needs to log into their Okta dashboard > Select Name (Top Right) > Settings > Edit Profile > Select Setup for desired factor > Complete enrolment process.

4. Error – “You do not have permission to perform the requested action.” when logging into Okta

Another common error you can encounter while logging into Okta. This error usually applies to three common scenarios:

• Organization-level login
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• ThreatInsights

This error is usually caused when ThreatInsights is enabled with the log and blocks authentication attempts from malicious IPs setting selected under Security >> General in the Admin Console. In this case, the user’s IP address has likely been flagged as suspicious and blocked. Fortunately, this error can also be easily fixed by following the given instructions from the Okta support:

1. Navigate to the Okta System Log under Reports >> System Log.
2. Search for any recent login activity associated with the impacted user.
3. Take note of the client IP addresses associated with the recent login activity and note any consistent login failures.
   • If there is a lot of activity from the user, it will be easier to download the System Logs to a CSV and filter by the IP Address(es).

4. Create a new System Log search using the following query for each IP address: actor.id eq “InsertIpAddressHere” and eventType eq “security.threat.detected” and outcome.result eq “DENY”

If you notice any suspicious activity events returned, this indicates that Okta has temporarily blocked at least one of the IP Addresses.

5. Error – Users can’t authenticate in the Okta Mobile App

Sometimes when users attempt to login to Okta using the Okta Mobile app on IOS and Android, they receive a “Sign In Failed” error even if the credentials are correct and the same user can successfully log in on a computer.

You might face this error while using Okta Mobile or IOS & Android devices. It is usually caused by having a sign-in policy requiring MFA before asking for a password.

You can resolve this issue by modifying your login policy, as mentioned by Okta support.

• Okta mobile expects a username and password for authentication.  
• If you have a sign-on policy that asks for a Username and MFA BEFORE ASKING for passwords, then Okta mobile app will deny access.
• To resolve this, you must modify the Sign-On Policy and rule affecting users to ask first for the password and then for MFA.

6. Error – Unable to log in to Okta using a temporary Active Directory Password

In this error, a user is unable to log in to Okta while using a temporary AD password when Delegated Authentication is enabled.  The error “Unable to sign in” appears on the login screen.

It usually shows up when the user’s password is set to expire on the next login on the AD side, and the Active Directory Policy rule in Okta does not allow users to change passwords.  Fortunately, this error is usually easily fixed by following the guidelines of the Okta support team.

1. Grant users the ability to change their AD password through Okta:

• In the Okta Admin Console, navigate to Security > Authentication.
• In the left pane, select Active Directory Policy.
• Now, Scroll down to the Rules section.
• Click the pencil icon next to your existing rule, or click Add Rule if only the default rule exists.
• Checkmark the Change Password option.
• Click Update Rule or Create Rule.
• Ensure that the rule’s status is Active.

2. Uncheck the “User must change the password on next logon” checkbox for the user in Active Directory.

• The user can then log in to Okta and change their password.

Active Directory was popular back when on-premise infrastructure was the only option for the network admins. With the rise in popularity of cloud computing, Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID) became popular with its more secure authentication features.  Still, Azure AD could not replace on-premise AD entirely, as it does not support LDAP, Kerberos, GPOs, or NTLM authentication.

The most sensible way to overcome these drawbacks is to implement digital certificates, which easily support WPA2-Enterprise, 802.1x, and provide seamless migration to the cloud.

Eliminating Sign-in Errors

Okta is unique in that it’s the only identity provider that allows end-users to use PIV Certificate Authentication as the first form of authentication. Organizations that use PIV for authentication distribute a physical smart card configured with identifying information that is used for authentication. It significantly improves protection against phishing attacks.

Okta enables the use of one set of credentials to log in to various web applications within a network. Considering that (55%) of IT security respondents and individuals would prefer a method of protecting accounts that don’t involve passwords, it’s safe to say people forgetting their passwords or losing their credentials is a major hassle.  

These drawbacks can be totally eliminated by configuring users to authenticate with certificates. Digital certificates offer vast improvements to network security, efficiency, and user experience. They have opened new options for organizations to feel more secure, and it’s easier than ever to make a seamless migration from credential-based protections. Read from one of our customers how simple it is to make the switch to these certificates.

SecureW2 Native Integration with Okta

The process of manually enrolling BYOD devices with certificates for SSO is time-consuming and mistake-prone, especially if configured by the end-users of an organization. Given that the penalties for network misconfigurations can be severe and far-reaching, we recommend utilizing SecureW2’s JoinNow MultiOS onboarding software to guide the users through a foolproof guided configuration.

SecureW2’s Cloud PKI services work natively with Okta, allowing users to efficiently enroll their devices for certificates, ultimately minimizing sign-in errors. SecureW2 with Okta SSO lets you use certificates without struggling with complicated configurations. We provide advanced policy engines that can easily communicate with your cloud directory and enforce user policies during authentication.

We have affordable options for organizations of all sizes. Click here to see our pricing.