10 Ways to Fix the NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID Error

How to Fix the NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID Error · Reload the Page · Don't Use Public Wifi · Check Your Date and Time · Determine Whether the ... Yourcurrenthostcouldbecostingyoutimeandmoney—getthembackwithKinsta.Learnmore SSLquestions 10WaystoFixtheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDError Lastupdated:October2,2021 HavinganSSLcertificateinstalledshouldprovidepeaceofmindtoanyoneusingyourwebsite.WhenaNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorsuggeststhere’ssomethingwrongwiththecertificate,itcanpreventvisitorsfromaccessingyourwebsiteuntilit’sresolved. Tryafreedemo Thissituationcanbeannoyingtositeownersandusersalike. ThegoodnewsisthattheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorisafairlycommonissuewithmanypossiblecauses.Therearealsoavarietyofpotentialsolutionsyoucantrytogetbackontrack.Theseareallrelativelysimplefixes. Inthispost,we’llbreakdownwhatNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDis,aswellashowitmayappearindifferentbrowsers.Thenwe’llgiveyousomemethodsyoucantrytofixit.Finally,we’llhavealookatacoupleofspecialcases. Let’sgetstarted! What’stheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDError? TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorisoftenreferredtoas‘yourconnectionisnotprivate,’asthisisthemessageyou’llfrequentlyreceivewhenyouencounterit.ThemostcommonbrowsertofindthiserroronisGoogleChrome,buttherearevariationsonotherbrowsersaswell: TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessageinFirefox. Inmostcases,theerrorwon’tactuallypreventyoufromaccessingthesite.Youcanignoreitandclickthroughtothepageyou’retryingtovisit,butwedon’trecommendit. WhiletheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorisnotunusualandcanbeeasilyfixed,itcansometimesindicatealegitimatethreat. Thereareafewmainreasonsyoumayseethiserror: There’saproblemwiththeuser’scomputer.Thiscouldincludeasettingontheircomputer,antivirussoftware,ortheinternetconnection. Thebrowserthatisaccessingthesiteistheproblem.Thiscouldbeduetoasetting,ortheplatformcouldbeincompatiblewiththeSSLcertificatebeingused. Theremightbeaproblemwiththecertificateitself.Inthecaseofthisparticularerror,thecertificatehasexpired. Regardlessofthereasonfortheerror,you’llwanttofixitquickly,asitcanaffecttraffic.Seeingthiserrormayalsoraisequestionsaboutwhetheryoursiteissecure. NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDVariations Whileyou’lltypicallyencountertheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessagewhenusingChrome,otherbrowsershavetheirownversionoftheerror.Youroperatingsystemwillalsoaffecttheexactmessageyousee. Let’shavealookatafewofthevariations. GoogleChrome TheerrortextinChromeexplicitlystatesthatyourconnectionisnotprivate.YoucanusuallyproceedtothesiteanywaybyclickingontheAdvanced button,butthereissomeriskinvolved: TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessageinChrome. TherearesomeothererrorsrelatedtotheSSLcertificatethatChromemaywarnyouabout.Afewoftheerrorcodesyoucouldseeinclude: NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID NET::ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM NTE::ERR_CERTIFICATE_TRANSPARENCY_REQUIRED ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR Attheveryleast,youknowtheproblemislikelyrelatedtothesite’sSSLcertificate.Havingaspecificerrorcodecanbehelpfulinpinpointingtheexactissue. Firefox Firefoxgetsyourattentionbydisplayingabrightyellowoutlinearounditssecuritywarning.AswithChrome,youcanusuallyignorethenoticeandproceedtothewebsitebyclickingontheAdvanced button: TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessageinFirefox. SelectingAdvanced willalsogiveyoumoreinformationabouttheerror.InadditiontotheSEC_ERROR_EXPIRED_CERTIFICATEmessage,youmayseeoneofthefollowingvariations: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER SSL_ERROR_RX_MALFORMED_HANDSHAKE MOZILLA_PKIX_ERROR_KEY_PINNING_FAILURE SEC_ERROR_REUSED_ISSUER_AND_SERIAL Thiswarningalsoincludesaspecificerrorcode,whichcanhelpyougettotherootoftheproblemmorequickly. MicrosoftEdge MicrosoftEdge’serrorscreenisnearlyidenticaltotheoneChromedisplays.However,theEdgeerrormayincludehowmanydaysagothesite’sSSLcertificateexpired: TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessageinMicrosoftEdge. Youmayseesomevariationintheerrorcodethat’sdisplayed: DLG_FLAGS_SEC_CERTDATE_INVALID DLG_FLAGS_INVALID_CA DLG_FLAGS_SEC_CERT_CN_INVALID NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID ERRORCODE:O Liketheotherbrowsers,Edgeusuallygivesyoutheoptiontoproceedtothewebsite.However,therearetimeswhenthebrowserwon’tallowyoutoloadthesiteuntilyou’veresolvedtheerror. Safari Ifyou’reusingSafari,yourwarningmaycomeintheformofapop-upratherthanafullscreen.Again,it’sastraightforwardprocesstocontinuetothepotentiallyunsafewebsitebyclickingontheContinue button: TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrormessageinSafari. Thepopupitselflikelywon’tgiveyoumuchtogoon.You’llneedtoclickonShowCertificate ifyouwanttogetmorecluesastowhat’scausingtheerror.Thiswindowwillgiveyousomedetailsaboutthecertificateitselfthatyoucanusetotryanddiagnosetheissue. HowtoFixtheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDError Nowthatwe’vetakenalookathowtheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorappearsonthemostpopularbrowsers,let’sgettoworkonfixingit. Thiserrorcanoriginatefrommanydifferentcauses,sowe’llwalkthroughtensolutionsyoucantry. 1.ReloadthePage Wemayaswellstartwiththesimplestsolution:Giverefreshingthepageashot.Youcanalsotryclosingandrelaunchingyourbrowser,beforenavigatingbacktothesamepage. Sometimesthingsjustdon’tworkthewaytheyshould,andit’sbettertotryaquickfixratherthantroubleshootingunnecessarily.Asunlikelyasitmayseem,it’spossiblethatyoujustcaughtthewebsiteownerinthemiddleofrenewingtheirSSLcertificate! 2.Don’tUsePublicWifi Ifyoustillseetheerrorafterreloadingthepage,checkyournetworkconnection.Ifyou’reonpublicwifi,there’sarealpossibilitythatyourconnectionactuallyisn’tprivate.Youmaywanttosignofftobesafe. Useahotspotonyourmobiledevice,andattempttore-accessthesite.Ifyoudon’tencountertheerrormessage,theproblemismostlikelywiththewificonnection. YoucanalsotryusingaVirtualPrivateNetwork(VPN)toseeiftheerrorpersists.IfyouwerealreadyusingaVPNwhenyoufirstencounteredtheissue,ontheotherhand,youmighttryturningtheVPNoff,asitmaybetheculprit. 3.CheckYourDateandTime Here’sanothereasyfix.Yourbrowserusesyourcomputer’sclocktoverifythatasite’sSSLcertificateisn’texpired.Ifyou’vesetyourtimeincorrectly,itcantriggerthiserror. Evenifyourcomputerissetuptosyncautomatically,itcanstillbethrownoff. Forexample,ifyou’verecentlytraveledacrosstimezones,yourlaptopmaynothavecaughtupyet.Sochecktoensurethatthedateandtimeareaccurateonyourmachine.Thenreopenthebrowserandtrynavigatingbacktothewebsite. 4.DetermineWhethertheCertificateHasExpired SSLcertificatesdoexpire,soifyouseethiserroronyourownwebsite,itmaybetimetohaveyourcertificatereissued.YoucanquicklycheckthisrightfromChrome. Startbyclickingonthethreedotsinthetop-rightcornerofthebrowserwindow.ThenselectMoreTools>DeveloperTools: CheckingtheSSLcertificatestatusinGoogleChrome NavigatetotheSecurity tab,whereyou’llbeabletoseeifthecertificateisvalid.YoucanclickontheViewCertificate buttontogetmoredetails,includingthecertificate’sexpirationdate: SSLcertificatedetailsinGoogleChrome Youcanalsouseatool suchasQualys’SSLServerTest tocheckthevalidityofyourcertificate. SignUpFortheNewsletter Wanttoknowhowweincreasedourtrafficover1000%? Join20,000+otherswhogetourweeklynewsletterwithinsiderWordPresstips! SubscribeNow SimplytypeyourdomainnameintotheboxandclickontheSubmit button: TheQualysSSLservertest Itmaytakeseveralminutestoperformthetest.YourresultswillincludeathoroughanalysisofyourSSLconfiguration,alongwithalettergradeforeachitem.You’llwanttopayparticularattentiontotheexpirationdateoftheSSLcertificate. NotethatyoucanusethesemethodstocheckthevalidityofanSSLcertificateonsomeoneelse’swebsite.However,youwon’tbeabletodomuchmorethanattempttonotifythewebsite’sownerthattheircertificationhasexpired. Ifyourowncertificatehasexpired,renewingitshouldtakecareoftheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerror.Yourhostmayhandlethis foryou,oryoumaybeabletodoityourselfthroughyourcontrolpanel. Somehostingproviders’controlpanelsdon’tprovideawayforyoutorenewyourcertificate.Inthiscase,youmayhavetoperformtherenewalthroughthecommandline.Certbot canhelpyoutosetthisup. YouneedtoinstallandrunCertbotonce.ItwillautomaticallyrenewafreeSSLcertificatewheneveryoursexpires: CertbotwillautomaticallyrenewyourSSLcertificate NomatterhowyourenewyourSSLcertificate,makesureyoumarkyourcalendarsoyoucanhandleitbeforeitbecomesaproblem. 5.UpdateYourOperatingSystemandBrowser Youshouldalwayshavethenewestversionofyouroperatingsysteminstalled,asolderversionsmaynolongerbesupportedoncetheybecomeobsolete.What’smore,therearepartsofSSLcertificatesthatcannolongerworkonolderoperatingsystems. Ifyou’rerunninganoutdatedversionofyouroperatingsystem,you’lllikelyencountererrorslikeNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDmoreoftenastimegoeson. Thesamegoesforoutdatedbrowsers.Ifyouhaven’tupdatedyourbrowserinawhile,youmaywanttogoaheadanddothatnow.Evenifthebrowserisuptodate,sometimesuninstallingandreinstallingitcanhelp. 6.DisableYourAntivirusSoftware Sometimes,theremaybeasettinginyourantivirussoftwarethattriggerstheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerror.Totestthis,trydisablingyourantivirussoftwareandattempttoaccessthewebsite.Besuretoforcerefresh whenyoudothis. Ifyoudeterminethatyourantivirussoftwareistheproblem,you’llfirstwanttotryupdatingtothelatestversion.Youcanalsoreachouttothesoftware’ssupportteamiftheissuepersistsafterupdating. 7.CheckYourBrowserExtensions Third-partyextensionsonChrome areknowntocauseproblemsfromtimetotime.Dependingonhowmanyextensionsyouhaveinstalled,thissolutioncantakesometimetotest: BrowserextensionsinGoogleChrome Checkeachextensiononeatatimebydisablingitandthenattemptingtoloadthepage.Ifoneofyourextensionsseemstobetriggeringtheerror,youcanthentryuninstallingitcompletely. Needtop-notch,fast,andsecurehostingforyournewwebsite?Kinstaprovidesblazingfastserversand24/7world-classsupportfromWordPressexperts.Checkoutourplans 8.ClearYourCacheandCookies Clearingyourcacheisanothersolutionthatcantakesometime.Thereareacoupleofthingsyoucantryfirsttodetermineifclearingyourcacheislikelytohelp. First,visitthesiteinincognitomode.Ifthatdoesn’thelp,youmighttryusingadifferentbrowsertoaccessthesite.Ifeitherofthesemethodsworks,there’sadecentchancethatclearingyourbrowsercache willsolvetheproblem. Theprocessforthisdiffersfromonebrowsertoanother: HowtoClearBrowserCacheforGoogleChrome HowtoClearBrowserCacheforMozillaFirefox HowtoClearBrowserCacheforSafari HowtoClearBrowserCacheforInternetExplorer HowtoClearBrowserCacheforMicrosoftEdge HowtoClearBrowserCacheforOpera Withyourcacheandcookiesfreshlycleared,youcantryreopeningyourbrowserandloadingthewebsiteagain. 9.ClearYourSSLCache Ifclearingyourbrowsercachedidn’twork,youcantryclearingyourSSLcache.TheSSLcachestorescredentials forwebsitesyou’vevisited,tosavetimewhenyoureconnectlater. However,ifanSSLcertificateisupdatedinthemeantime,theSSLcachemaypreventyourbrowserfromrecognizingthechange. TocleartheSSLstateinChromeonWindows,navigatetotheControlPanel andselectNetworkandInternet.UndertheContent tab,you’llfindthebuttontoClearSSLstate: ClearingtheSSLstateinWindows Onceagain,reopenyourbrowserandnavigatetothewebsite.IfyoustillgettheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerror,wehaveonemoresolutionyoucantry. Ifyou’reusingmacOS,youmayneedtodeleteanSSLcertificatepreviouslyacceptedfromanuntrustedsource. Todoso,navigatetoFinder,thenclickonGo> Utilities> KeychainAccess: macOSkeychain Next,clickonCertificates,whichislocatedundertheCategory section.Untrustedcertificatesaremarkedwithared‘X’.Toremoveone,clickonEdit>Delete. 10.ChangeYourDomainNameSystem(DNS)Server YoumaywanttotrychangingyourDomainNameSystem(DNS)server toorfromGoogle’sPublicDNS,dependingonyourcurrentsetup.BeforemakinganychangestoyourDNSsettings,makesureyouwritedownyourcurrentsettingsincaseyouneedtochangethemback. TochangeyourDNSserveronWindows,startbyopeningtheControlPanel.ClickonNetworkandInternet >NetworkandSharingCenter,andthenChangeadaptersettings.Right-clickonyourconnectionandselectProperties. Next,chooseInternetProtocolVersion4or6, andthenclicktheProperties button.SelectUsethefollowingDNSserveraddresses: ChangingtheDNSserveraddressesinWindows TouseGoogle’sPublicDNS,enter8.8.8.8and8.8.4.4intheboxes.YoumightalsotryCouldflare’sDNS,whichis1.1.1.1and1.0.0.1.ClickonOK andclosethewindow.You’llneedtorestartyourbrowserforthechangestotakeeffect. FormacOSusers,theprocessissimilar,onlywithafewvariations. First,navigatetoSystemPreferences andclickontheNetwork icon: NetworksettingsmacOS SelecttheAdvanced buttonfollowedbytheDNS tab.Next,clickonthe(+)iconnextto“IPv4orIPv6addresses”: ThemacOSDNSnetworkwindow OnceyouenterthenewDNSservers.ClickonOK thenApply tosaveyourchanges. IfyouarealreadyusingGoogle’sPublicDNS,youcantrygoingbacktoyourISP’sDNSserversinstead.SimplyremoveGoogle’sDNS,andmakesureObtainDNSserveraddressautomatically ischecked. NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDandWordPress Ifyou’reexperiencingthisproblemonyourWordPresssite andtheabovemethodsdidn’twork,thereareafewmorethingsyoucancheck: IfyourhostingproviderinstalledyourSSLcertificate,contactthemtoresolvethiserror. Ifyouinstalledyourcertificateonyourown,tryreinstallingit. Makesureyou’veenabledHTTPS onyoursite. ChecktoensurethatyourURLsareallupdated. Don’tbeafraidtoreachouttotheWordPresscommunityforsupport ifyou’refeelingstuck.There’salsoawealthofdocumentation youcanexploreaswell. Ifyou’restillrunningintoadeadend,youcantrycontactingyourSSLcertificateissuer.Theyshouldbeabletohelpyoupinpointtheissue. NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDandLet’sEncrypt Let’sEncrypt providesfreeSSLcertificatestoanyonewhoownsadomainname.However,thesecertificatesareonlyvalidfor90days.Sothere’sahigherlikelihoodthatyourshasexpiredversusifyou’reusingapremiumcertificateobtainedelsewhere. WhenyourLet’sEncryptcertificatetermisup,therenewalprocesswilldependonyourhostingprovider. SomeplatformsarenotcompatiblewithLet’sEncrypt certificates,andsomeprovidersrequireyoutomanuallyhandletherenewalyourself.Whilethereisn’taformalsupportteamatLet’sEncrypt,youcanalwayscheckoutthecommunityforumsforhelp.You’llfindplentyofinformationandknowledgeablevolunteerswhocanhelpyouinvestigatepossiblesolutions. Summary TheNET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALIDerrorhasmanypotentialcauses,whichcanmaketroubleshootingitparticularlyfrustrating.However,it’sessentialtohandlethisproblemquickly.Ifyouseetheerroronyoursite,othersmayencounteritaswell. Sincethiserrorhassomanycauses,weprovidedyouwithtensolutionstotry.Youcanstartsimplybyreloadingthewebsiteandcheckingthedateandtimeonyourcomputer.Thenyoumightmoveontothemoreinvolvedmethods,suchasclearingyourSSLstateortestingyourbrowserextensions. Savetime,costsandmaximizesiteperformancewith: InstanthelpfromWordPresshostingexperts,24/7. CloudflareEnterpriseintegration. Globalaudiencereachwith28datacentersworldwide. Optimizationwithourbuilt-inApplicationPerformanceMonitoring. Allofthatandmuchmore,inoneplanwithnolong-termcontracts,assistedmigrations,anda30-day-money-back-guarantee.Checkoutourplansortalktosalestofindtheplanthat’srightforyou. Hand-pickedrelatedarticles KnowledgeBase TLSvsSSL:What’stheDifference?WhichOneShouldYouUse? LearnthedifferencebetweenTLSvsSSL,aswellaswhichprotocolyoushoulduseandwhyyour"SSLcertificate"isreallya"TLS/SSLcertificate". Blog HowtoQuicklyFixWordPressMixedContentWarnings(HTTPS/SSL) MixedcontentwarningsarecommonafteranHTTPSmigrationoraddinganewservice.Checkouthowtoquicklyfixtheseonyoursite. KnowledgeBase HowtoFixERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH TheERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCHerroristypicallycausedbyproblemswithyourSSLcertificateorwebserver.Checkouthowtofixit.