This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Cuireadh an snáithe seo sa chartlann. Cuir ceist nua má tá cabhair uait.

Firefox not working on some ssl sites

more options

We recently upgraded Firefox on an older Ubuntu 16.04. We are now having trouble with some https sites.

Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER https://www.myeducation.gov.bc.ca/aspen/logon.do

We don't think it is a firewall or antivirus/antispyware issue because the same version of Firefox will work on other versions of Linux/windows in the school.

We did notice a difference in the Certificate Manager. The Firefox that is NOT working is missing certificates that are labelled "Software Security Device". The site that fails is looking for "Entrust Certification Authority -L1K" which should be listed as a "Software Security Device" in Firefox.

We have tried the following:

  • Updated ca-certificates package which stores system certificates in /etc/ssl/certs/.
  • move $HOME/.mozilla folder out of the way to start with a fresh profile.
  • tested same Firefox on other versions of Linux and it works fine.
  • made sure antivirus/firewalls are not interfering.
We recently upgraded Firefox on an older Ubuntu 16.04. We are now having trouble with some https sites. Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER https://www.myeducation.gov.bc.ca/aspen/logon.do We don't think it is a firewall or antivirus/antispyware issue because the same version of Firefox will work on other versions of Linux/windows in the school. We did notice a difference in the Certificate Manager. The Firefox that is NOT working is missing certificates that are labelled "Software Security Device". The site that fails is looking for "Entrust Certification Authority -L1K" which should be listed as a "Software Security Device" in Firefox. We have tried the following: * Updated ca-certificates package which stores system certificates in /etc/ssl/certs/. * move $HOME/.mozilla folder out of the way to start with a fresh profile. * tested same Firefox on other versions of Linux and it works fine. * made sure antivirus/firewalls are not interfering.
Attached screenshots

Réiteach roghnaithe

Hi montgomery dean, the "Software Security Device" certificates are usually intermediate certificates that Firefox has cached from sites that served these. These certificates complete the chain of trust between the site's own certificate and the root certificates included with Firefox.

The SSLLabs test shows the server is not sending the intermediate certificates itself, so they need to update their SSL Configuration on the server.

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.myeducation.gov.bc.ca

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (2)

more options

Réiteach Roghnaithe

Hi montgomery dean, the "Software Security Device" certificates are usually intermediate certificates that Firefox has cached from sites that served these. These certificates complete the chain of trust between the site's own certificate and the root certificates included with Firefox.

The SSLLabs test shows the server is not sending the intermediate certificates itself, so they need to update their SSL Configuration on the server.

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.myeducation.gov.bc.ca

Athraithe ag jscher2000 - Support Volunteer ar

more options

Confirmed. If I visit the entrusted website and use the "Test My Browser" buttons then the root certificate get's loaded into the browser and the site that previously failed works properly.

www entrustdatacard com / pages / root-certificates-download

Athraithe ag montgomery.dean ar