AADSTS50076

Multi-factor authentication required

Last reviewed 2026-07-18 by the Just Software engineering team · also seen as 50076, UserStrongAuthClientAuthNRequired, must use multi-factor authentication

What it means

AADSTS50076 — "Due to a configuration change made by your administrator, or because you moved to a new location, you must use multi-factor authentication to access." A Conditional Access policy or other MFA requirement applies to this sign-in, and the presented session or credential has not completed MFA. Interactively, the user just completes the prompt; the error matters when it hits clients that cannot do MFA.

Common causes

  1. A Conditional Access policy requiring MFA now covers this user/app/location — often after policy rollout or the user appearing from a new IP/location.

  2. Legacy authentication clients (older Office, SMTP/IMAP/POP, basic-auth scripts) that cannot perform MFA are being challenged.

  3. Scripts or services running with user credentials (instead of an app identity) hitting MFA-protected resources.

  4. The existing token predates the policy and a fresh MFA-satisfying token is required.

How to fix it

  1. Interactive users: complete the MFA prompt; if none appears, register methods at aka.ms/mfasetup.

  2. Automation hitting this error should move to an application identity: app registration with client credentials or certificate, or a managed identity — not a user account with MFA exemptions.

  3. Diagnose which policy fired: Entra admin center > Sign-in logs > (entry) > Conditional Access tab shows each policy and its result.

  4. Avoid carving out MFA exclusions for service accounts; if unavoidable short-term, scope tightly and time-box it.

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