Firefox is blocking my access to freelotto.com and won't allow an exception. How can I get round this problem? I am having to use Internet explorer for this.
Firefox is throwing out an untrusted connection banner every time I attempt to access the login screen for freelotto.com. I can access the site using an unsecured connection (HTTP as apposed to HTTPS) but this is not a practice I am particularly fond of and the login screen for the site will not allow unsecured connections anyway. I have been using Firefox to access this site for several years now and up until a couple of months ago have never had any problems. This is the only site I have this problem with and I am currently being forced to use Internet explorer for access which seems to have no issue connecting.
The dialog box provided by Firefox to enable an exception for this site appears to do nothing when I attempt to confirm this site as an acception. There is no confirmation of success or failure and successive attempts to access the site continue to report untrusted connections.
I have attempted to login to the site using other machines on this network and have also attempted to do so from different locations with exactly the same results. I have re-installed Firefox on this machine a number of times now and am begining to run out of ideas.
Would much appreciate any assistance you can offer.
All Replies (9)
Did this just start happening in the past few weeks? The site's certificate says it was issued May 16th. Perhaps your Firefox is not getting the message about the new certificate.
When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.
(1) Bypass Firefox's Cache
Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server.
Alternately, you also can clear Firefox's cache completely using:
orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced
On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"
If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.
(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site:
- right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
- Alt+t (open the classic Tools menu) > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.
Then try reloading the page. Does that help?
Thanks for the assist. Sorry its taken so long to reply, I seem to have done nothing but dash from one emergency to another over the last couple of weeks.
Unfortunately the problem is still unresolved. I have tried removing all the cookies as suggested and cleared out the cache but it has made no difference. In answer to your query the problem has been there for several months now so no it didn't happen at the time the new certificate was issued.
Firefox will allow me to display the certificate details but the only information given for the rejection is that verification has failed due to unknown reasons.
When the problem first occurred I attempted to connect, through a completely different machine (although it was attached to the same LAN.) and I was greeted with the same problem. I have just used the same machine to try the connection again and it is now being made without complaint. My machine however is still refusing point blank.
Comparing the certificate details across the two machines I can see no apparent differences.
One thought does spring to mind which is that the version of Internet Explorer I am able to connect with hasn't been updated for some time now. Certainly not since well before the problem arose. Firefox on the other hand is completely up to date. Have there been any security updates over the last few months that could have triggered the problem? It does seem unlikely as this is the only site I am having trouble with but stranger things have been known to happen.
Any thoughts you may have will be gratefully received.
Check the date and time in the clock on your computer: (double) click the clock icon on the Windows Taskbar.
See also:
No the system date is fine. I have tried deleting the 'cert8.db' file as suggested from the first link you provided. This made no difference, I am still getting the same result.
When selecting 'Technical Details' from the initial error screen I am presented with the following information:
"www.freelotto.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because no issuer chain was provided (Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer)"
The explanation of this error from the first link details this and offers the suggestion that security software may have SSL Scanning enabled. I have attempted disabling all security software on a temporary basis in order to counter this. This made no difference and the problem still persists. If this was the course of the problem however would it not affect all secure connections, or at the very least interfere with more than a single URL.
When displaying the certificate details I am given the following message at the top of the general tab:
"Could not verify this certificate for unknown reasons."
When I use the add exception option the dialog box includes the following information:
"Certificate Status This site attempts to identify itself with invalid information. Unknown Identity Certificate is not trusted, because it hasn't been verified by a recognized authority using a secure signature."
I have just attempted to add a security exception and it is now accepting this. I'm not sure what has changed to allow this. As far as I am aware the only real difference now is the replacement of the 'cert8.db' file as described above. Although I can see how this might have effected a connection with no exception entered I can't see how it would alter the capability to add the exception in the first place. I have tried on numerous occasions to get an exception in for this site over the last few weeks without success.
Although this now allows me to connect to the site I am a little concerned about doing so by blindly bi-passing security protocols. Its one thing to ignore such things to get around a problem if you know why you are having to do so. It is a little foolhardy to do so without this information.
Any thoughts or suggestions will as always be gratefully received.
It's interesting, this test site also gets a certificate error: http://www.networking4all.com/en/support/tools/site+check/report/?fqdn=www.freelotto.com
I don't know why I don't get that error.
This server doesn't send a full certificate chain (i.e. the GeoTrust Extended Validation SSL CA intermediate certificate is missing).
If you have visited a server before that has send this intermediate certificate then Firefox has stored it and you won't see an error message.
A new profile or temporarily remove the cert8.db file should confirm this and make Firefox show the error.
Thanks for the feedback Guys.
I think the next step is another query to the site owners. I didn't receive a response from them on this problem last time I queried it but it can't hurt to try again. I will post the results of this query if and when they get back to me..
In case the site needs help with installing the certificate correctly, here are Geotrust's instructions: http://www.geotrust.com/resources/extended-validation-ssl/installation-instructions.html#02
Thanks for the link. I'll pass it across and see what happens.