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AN Error code

  • 7 replies
  • 14 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by John99

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Firefox does not open up and I get this error code: Error code: SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT I have tried checking my time clock on task bar but it is set as correct time. I always clear histroy, cache and cookies. What could be wrong with it and what can I do now?

Firefox does not open up and I get this error code: Error code: SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT I have tried checking my time clock on task bar but it is set as correct time. I always clear histroy, cache and cookies. What could be wrong with it and what can I do now?

Chosen solution

It will depend on Microsoft, the problem is on their servers. As long as it is not an attack or a deliberate decision to not let Firefox users use their webmail it will probably be sorted out very quickly.

If they have been hit by some major incident that is yet to be announced who knows how long it will take to sort out.

We will try to keep the latest news in a contributors thread:

  • SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT when I try to access my hotmail account. {title subject to possible update} /forums/contributors/712461

UPDATE John99 said

At least some of these issues (probably most) will have been fixed by Microsoft now, although there could be some delay as changes work their way through.

Firefox is slightly stricter than some other browsers presumably expecting sites that employ advanced security features to be able to keep their sites correctly configured and with up to date certificates.

Our standard response at present is
Unfortunately Microsoft has misconfigured a security feature (OCSP stapling) on their servers which will now have been cached in your local Firefox installation.
In order to resolve this:
  1. Enter about:config into the Firefox address bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) and
  2. Search for the preference named security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling.
  3. Double-click it and change its value to False
This will degrade a security feature in Firefox, so please revisit it in a couple of days again after Microsoft has fixed their stuff and turn it back on again then. (I will update the solution above)
Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (7)

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Sorry this is the entire error code. An error occurred during a connection to mail.live.com. Invalid OCSP signing certificate in OCSP response. Error code: SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT

It seems that I can open up my home page but cannot open up the signin page, but I can open hotmail in my other browsers??

What could this problem be.

Many thanks

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It is a problem with Microsoft Servers. I will copy an answer I posted in another thread

  • Yesterday and every other day you considered the security fine,but today you decide it is not.I like to c heck my emails if you don't mind. /questions/1161968

John99 said

Security is not fine today. That is Firefox doing its job and telling you something is wrong with the Microsoft site. Hopefully it is a temporary relatively harmless misconfiguration, and not a sign that the MS servers and sites with copies of your emails on have been compromised.

Further information

To clarify use the threebar button top right. Next click on options (cog icon). Then use Advanced Look for the tab or panel Certificates Remove the tick by clicking the tick in the box in front of OCSP

It is probably best to make sure that is back on again if you need to do anything important like banking, and of course once MS fixes the issue turn it back on permanently.


Alternative method

cor-el said: {/questions/1161934#answer-972795}

There seems to be something wrong on some Microsoft servers. Hopefully they fix this quickly on affected servers. This looks like a problem with OCSP stapling on the server because it works when I disable OCSP Stapling in Firefox. You can temporarily toggle this pref to false on the about:config page to see if disabling OCSP Stapling works for you. It is best to reset this pref via the right-click context menu to true once you are done with the this website.
  • security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling = false

Please see also this article explaining how to use about:config

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At present I can still read my own email on an MS hotmail.co.uk account, but I do get an error similar to yours if I try to visit mail.live.com

It does seem this error only affects some people, it may depend on your broadband supplier or geographic location but it is widespread and we have had a lot or posts recently about this.

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I have a hotmail icon on the desktop which automatically opens in firefox, then I get that error message also when I get to firefox google type hotmail signin and the same error code appears. But on other browsers hot mail works and opens up?

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So will this sort itself out?? perhaps?

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Chosen Solution

It will depend on Microsoft, the problem is on their servers. As long as it is not an attack or a deliberate decision to not let Firefox users use their webmail it will probably be sorted out very quickly.

If they have been hit by some major incident that is yet to be announced who knows how long it will take to sort out.

We will try to keep the latest news in a contributors thread:

  • SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT when I try to access my hotmail account. {title subject to possible update} /forums/contributors/712461

UPDATE John99 said

At least some of these issues (probably most) will have been fixed by Microsoft now, although there could be some delay as changes work their way through.

Firefox is slightly stricter than some other browsers presumably expecting sites that employ advanced security features to be able to keep their sites correctly configured and with up to date certificates.

Our standard response at present is
Unfortunately Microsoft has misconfigured a security feature (OCSP stapling) on their servers which will now have been cached in your local Firefox installation.
In order to resolve this:
  1. Enter about:config into the Firefox address bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) and
  2. Search for the preference named security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling.
  3. Double-click it and change its value to False
This will degrade a security feature in Firefox, so please revisit it in a couple of days again after Microsoft has fixed their stuff and turn it back on again then. (I will update the solution above)

Modified by John99

more options

At least some of these issues (probably most) will have been fixed by Microsoft now, although there could be some delay as changes work their way through. .

Firefox is slightly stricter than some other browsers presumably expecting sites that employ advanced security features to be able to keep their sites correctly configured and with up to date certificates.

Our standard response at present is

Unfortunately Microsoft has misconfigured a security feature (OCSP stapling) on their servers which will now have been cached in your local Firefox installation.

In order to resolve this:

  1. Enter about:config into the Firefox address bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) and
  2. Search for the preference named security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling.
  3. Double-click it and change its value to False

This will degrade a security feature in Firefox, so please revisit it in a couple of days again after Microsoft has fixed their stuff and turn it back on again then.

(I will update the solution above)