Refresh token rotation

Refresh token rotation helps a public client to securely rotate refresh tokens after each use. When refresh token rotation behavior is enabled in Okta, a new refresh token is returned each time the client makes a request to exchange a refresh token for a new access token.

Refresh token reuse detection

When a client wants to renew an access token, it sends the refresh token with the access token request to the /token endpoint. Okta validates the incoming refresh token and issues a new set of tokens. As soon as the new tokens are issued, Okta invalidates the refresh token that was passed with the initial request to the /token endpoint.

If a previously used refresh token is used again with the token request, the Authorization Server automatically detects the attempted reuse of the refresh token. As a result, Okta immediately invalidates the most recently issued refresh token and all access tokens issued since the user authenticated. This protects your application from token compromise and replay attacks.

System Log events

Okta fires the following System Log events when token reuse is detected:

• app.oauth2.as.token.detect_reuse for Custom Authorization Servers
• app.oauth2.token.detect_reuse for the Org Authorization Server

Grace period for token rotation

Token reuse detection can sometimes impact the user experience. For example, when apps are accessed by users with a poor network connection, new tokens issued by Okta might not reach the client app. As a result, the client might want to reuse the refresh token to get new tokens from Okta. So, Okta offers a grace period when you configure refresh token rotation. After the refresh token is rotated, the previous token remains valid for the configured amount of time to allow clients to get the new token.

Enable refresh token rotation

Rotating refresh token behavior is the default for SPAs. When you create a new SPA, or when you update an existing SPA, and select Refresh Token as the allowed grant type, rotating the refresh token is set as the default.

To update existing OpenID Connect applications to use refresh token rotation:

1. Sign in to your Okta organization with your administrator account.
2. In the Admin Console, go to Applications > Applications.
3. Select the app integration that you want to configure.
4. On the General tab, click Edit in the General Settings section.
5. In the Allowed grant types section, select Refresh Token.
6. In the Refresh Token section, select Rotate token after every use.
7. The default number of seconds for the Grace period for token rotation is set to 30 seconds. You can change the value to any number between 0 and 60 seconds. After the refresh token is rotated, the previous token remains valid for this amount of time to allow clients to get the new token.
8. Click Save to confirm your changes.

When you create a new native or web app and want to use refresh token rotation:

1. Sign in to your Okta organization with your administrator account.
2. In the Admin Console, go to Applications > Applications.
3. Click Create App Integration and follow the instructions to create a new OIDC app integration.
4. After creating the app integration using the wizard, on the General tab, click Edit in the General Settings section.
5. In the Allowed grant types section, select Refresh Token.
6. In the Refresh Token section, select Rotate token after every use.
7. The default number of seconds for the Grace period for token rotation is set to 30 seconds. You can change the value to any number between 0 and 60 seconds. After the refresh token is rotated, the previous token remains valid for this amount of time to allow clients to get the new token.
8. Click Save to confirm your changes.

Refresh token rotation properties

After you enable refresh token rotation, the refresh_token property appears within settings.oauthClient for your app. The refresh_token property is an object that contains the rotation_type and leeway properties. Accepted values for rotation_type are ROTATE or STATIC. The accepted value for leeway is any number between 0 and 60.

"refresh_token": {
    "rotation_type": "ROTATE",
    "leeway": 30
}

See Refresh token object.

Refresh token lifetime

Refresh token lifetimes are managed through the Authorization Server access policy. The default value for the refresh token lifetime (refreshTokenLifetimeMinutes) for an Authorization Server access policy is Unlimited, but expires every seven days if hasn't been used. When you use a refresh token with a SPA, make sure that you keep a short refresh token lifetime for better security.

Next: Get a refresh token