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Mozilla doesn't recognize certificate issuer

  • 16 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Bcamp

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A site that I use several times every year recently wouldn't open. Response from Firefox is "Access Denied - Certificate issuer not recognized". Also kept getting bumped out of my email account and all my open tabs would close abruptly. The last may have been rectified but I still can't get into the website I want to access.

I've tried different browsers as well so I don't know if it's Mozilla only or my PC. Even if I type in https://www.(pagename).com, it displays as you don't have permission to access http://www.(pagename).com.

I changed nothing on my PC that would cause the problem.

A site that I use several times every year recently wouldn't open. Response from Firefox is "Access Denied - Certificate issuer not recognized". Also kept getting bumped out of my email account and all my open tabs would close abruptly. The last may have been rectified but I still can't get into the website I want to access. I've tried different browsers as well so I don't know if it's Mozilla only or my PC. Even if I type in https://www.(pagename).com, it displays as you don't have permission to access http://www.(pagename).com. I changed nothing on my PC that would cause the problem.

Chosen solution

The modified settings are fine to keep as long as you do not need to use a proxy server (for example, in a corporate setting).

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All Replies (16)

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Hi

What is the address of the website that you are trying to view?

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It seems to be some sites where I have an account plus I can't access them on Chrome either so it appears to be something on my PC as opposed to the site. But I didn't change anything and nothing so far has helped.

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Please provide a public link (no password) that we can check out. No Personal Information Please !

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It is possible that the website doesn't support a secure https:// connection, but only works with an insecure http:// connection. If Firefox tries to upgrade from http: to https: then this might cause your issue.

What protocol do other browsers use (http: or https:) ?


See also:

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The sites I had problems with are using https. I can see the public sites but continue to get the error message when I try to sign in to my specific account. The response is about the certificate.

An example is https://www.wegmans.com/. I can view the site with no problem until I try to log into my account. When I click on the lock icon in the URL line, the response is: "Connection verified by a certificate user that is not recognized by Mozilla".

But it's happening on Chrome as well and only on SOME sites where I have an account. Others are fine.

These are big companies that are not having problems with their sites.

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If I start at https://www.wegmans.com/ and click Sign in, the site loads

https://shop.wegmans.com/login?redirect=https://www.wegmans.com&norender=1

Firefox pulls dozens of files and eventually loads the following page (I replaced the client ID with other characters):

https://myaccount.wegmans.com/wegmansonline.onmicrosoft.com/oauth2/v2.0/authorize?client_id=12345678-abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnopqrstvwx&p=B2C_1A_FullAccountSignupSignin&state=B2C_1A_FullAccountSignupSignin&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.wegmans.com%2Fsocial-redirect%2Fwegmans_idp&response_type=code&scope=12345678-abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnopqrstvwx%20offline_access

I'm a little puzzled about why Microsoft is in there, but this site may be running on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

Is yours hanging up on one of those sites?

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Thx for the response. I'm not sure how to answer the question. When I paste that into my browser, it just says loading but never goes anywhere. This is all new.

And the same thing is happening on other sites.

Do you know how to fix the certificate issue on my PC as that seems to be the only constant. Something changed on my PC for several sites that require a login. One is a government site (student loans).

I've tried a variety of prompts after clicking on the security shield and the lock in URL box but not finding the problem area and continue to have to find workarounds.

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Let's see whether we can separate an internal (settings/add-ons) issue from an external issue with the

New Profile Test

This takes about 3 minutes, plus the time to test some problem site(s).

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Take a quick glance at the page and make a mental note of which Profile has this notation: This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. That is your current default profile.

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like Mar2022, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

Firefox will switch your default profile to the new one, so click the Set as Default Profile button for your regular one to avoid an unwanted surprise at your next startup.

Scroll down to Mar2022 and click its Launch profile in new browser button.

Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system to get a clean test.

Do any of the problem site(s) work better in the new profile?

When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (Mar2022 will remain available for future testing.)

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Thx. I did everything and tried it on the 3 sites where I had an account and got the same results as before.

1. Just showed loading but never connected. 2. Access denied, same as last time. 3. Same as before - just got error message.

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Hmm, sounds like there might be an external factor, but if you could switch two connection settings on the Settings page first. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Settings (previously "Options")
  • type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the search box at the top of the page, type proxy and Firefox should filter to the "Settings" button, which you can click.

At the top of the dialog change to "No proxy". At the bottom, if DNS over HTTPS is enabled, turn that off. Then click OK to save changes.

Any difference?

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Try to rename the cert9.db file (cert9OLD.db) and remove the previously used cert8.db file in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed to remove intermediate certificates and exceptions that Firefox has cached.

If this has helped to solve the problem then you can remove the renamed cert9OLD.db file. Otherwise you can undo the rename and restore cert9.db.

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

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jscher2000 - that worked! At least for 2 of the 3 sites that I couldn't access before. The government site didn't work but the response is different than the others. It continues to challenge my login credentials but I don't think it's the same problem.

Can I leave the settings as you directed or does it need to change back?

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Chosen Solution

The modified settings are fine to keep as long as you do not need to use a proxy server (for example, in a corporate setting).

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It's a personal PC so shouldn't be an issue. Why did it happen in the first place? I can't think of anything I might have changed that made it happen.

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One possible explanation that seems to affect a number of users would be that something changed the system level proxy settings in a way that affects Firefox. Whether that is security software, spyware, or something else, can be difficult to track down.

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K, thanks again.