One time password schemes are a user authentication method that relies on a fixed secret key which is used to derive a sequence of short passwords, each of which is accepted only once. Commonly this is used to implement two-factor authentication (2FA), where the user authenticates using both a conventional password (or a public key signature) and an OTP generated by a small device such as a mobile phone.

Botan implements the HOTP and TOTP schemes from RFC 4226 and 6238.

Since the range of possible OTPs is quite small, applications must rate limit OTP authentication attempts to some small number per second. Otherwise an attacker could quickly try all 1000000 6-digit OTPs in a brief amount of time.

HOTP generates OTPs that are a short numeric sequence, between 6 and 8 digits (most applications use 6 digits), created using the HMAC of a 64-bit counter value. If the counter ever repeats the OTP will also repeat, thus both parties must assure the counter only increments and is never repeated or decremented. Thus both client and server must keep track of the next counter expected.

Anyone with access to the client-specific secret key can authenticate as that client, so it should be treated with the same security consideration as would be given to any other symmetric key or plaintext password.

TOTP is based on the same algorithm as HOTP, but instead of a counter a timestamp is used.