# Authentication ## What is it? Authentication is the process by which a system confirms the identity of a user or application. It's essentially all about **who you are**. Targeting authentication mechanisms allow us to to impersonate users, admins, or systems and gain unauthorized access. Often, we look to attack logic issues and lack of brute-force protection. Common targets in authentication attacks include: * Passwords or passphrases * Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) * Session tokens * Cookies * Recovery questions and answers For more details on specific authentication attack techniques, see the relevant child pages. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://appsecexplained.gitbook.io/appsecexplained/common-vulns/authentication.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.