Users can be enabled to authenticate with YubiKey devices (available from Yubico), which generate secure one-time passwords, with the UNBOUNDID-YUBIKEY-OTP SASL mechanism. A YubiKey device generates a different password for every authentication attempt, and that one-time password is sent to a validation service to ensure that it is genuine and has not been used in an earlier authentication attempt. Although it is possible to use this one-time password as the only proof of identity, it is typically combined with a static password as a form of two-factor authentication.

YubiKey authentication requires server configuration and the addition of this capability to a user entry. Configuration of a client ID and API key to use when communicating with the validation service is also required. The API key is a shared secret between the YubiKey validation service and the client that is interacting with it, and is used when generating digital signatures so that both the server and the YubiKey validation service can ensure that the peer server is genuine.

All server and user entry configuration details are available in the Security Guide.