Configuring Captcha for failed logins
If you have system administrator permissions, you can configure Confluence to impose a maximum number of repeated login attempts. After a given number of failed login attempts (the default is three) Confluence will display a Captcha form asking the user to enter a given word when attempting to log in again. This will prevent brute force attacks on the Confluence login screen.
Similarly, after three failed authentication attempts via the REST API, XML-RPC, or SOAP API endpoints, Captcha is automatically activated. Users must log in using the web interface and complete a captcha challenge before they can successfully invoke the API endpoints again.
For XML-RPC or SOAP API endpoints (deprecated since Confluence 5.5), an error message instructs the user to log in via the web interface. Meanwhile, the REST API endpoints will return a 401 error until the web login is completed.
On this page:
“Captcha” is a test that can distinguish a human being from an automated agent such as a web spider or robot. When Captcha is activated, users will need to recognize a distorted picture of a word, and must type the word into a text field. This is easy for humans to do, but very difficult for computers.
Screenshot: example of a Captcha test
Enabling, disabling, and configuring Captcha for failed logins
By default, Captcha for failed logins is enabled and the number of failed login attempts is set to three.
To enable, disable, and configure Captcha for failed logins:
- Select Administration menu
, then select General Configuration - Select Security Configuration from the left menu.
- Select Edit.
- To enable Captcha:
- Select the Enable checkbox next to CAPTCHA on login.
- Set the maximum number of failed logins next to Maximum Authentication Attempts Allowed. You must enter a number greater than zero.
- To disable Captcha, clear the Enable checkbox.
- Select Save.
Screenshot: Configuring Captcha for failed logins
Notes
- Disabling all password confirmation requests, including Captcha on login. Confluence installations that use a custom authentication mechanism may run into problems with the Confluence security measure that requires password confirmation. If necessary, you can set the
password.confirmation.disabledsystem property to disable functionalities like Captcha, change of email address, and administrative actions that require password-based login or confirmation. See Recognized System Properties.