diff --git a/lib/http-proxy.js b/lib/http-proxy.js
index b1ad646..8d37dd2 100644
--- a/lib/http-proxy.js
+++ b/lib/http-proxy.js
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ module.exports.createProxyServer =
    *    prependPath: <true/false, Default: true - specify whether you want to prepend the target's path to the proxy path>
    *    localAddress : <Local interface string to bind for outgoing connections>
    *    changeOrigin: <true/false, Default: false - changes the origin of the host header to the target URL>
+   *    auth   : Basic authentication i.e. 'user:password' to compute an Authorization header.  
    *    hostRewrite: rewrites the location hostname on (301/302/307/308) redirects, Default: null.
    *  }
    *
diff --git a/lib/http-proxy/common.js b/lib/http-proxy/common.js
index 66e80f9..a8722f2 100644
--- a/lib/http-proxy/common.js
+++ b/lib/http-proxy/common.js
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ common.setupOutgoing = function(outgoing, options, req, forward) {
     extend(outgoing.headers, options.headers);
   }
 
+  if(options.auth){
+    outgoing.auth = options.auth;
+  }
+
   if (isSSL.test(options[forward || 'target'].protocol)) {
     outgoing.rejectUnauthorized = (typeof options.secure === "undefined") ? true : options.secure;
   }