Firefox refusing to connect to a forum

barnaclebill

Firefox is refusing to connect to mercedes benz owners forum, it says the site is not configured correctly and is unsafe.
Mercedes owners forum did a new set up a couple of weeks ago but it was ok after that, this is only since firefox updated itself a few days ago and it say's http has an 's' on the end and it's not secure

kwikbreaks

Probably Firefox is now more fussy than it was.

https://www.whynopadlock.com/

Domain Name: forums.mercedesclub.org.uk
URL Tested: https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php
Number of items downloaded on page: 55

SSL verification issue (Possibly mis-matched URL or bad intermediate cert.). Details:
ERROR: cannot verify forums.mercedesclub.org.uk's certificate, issued by '/C=US/O=GeoTrust Inc./OU=Domain Validated SSL/CN=GeoTrust DV SSL SHA256 CA': Unable to locally verify the issuer's authority.
Certificate valid through: Apr 22 23:59:59 2018 GMT
Certificate Issuer: GeoTrust Inc.
SSL Protocols Supported: SSLv3 TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2
Server supports SSLv3, may be vulnerable to POODLE attack. It is suggested to disable the SSLv3 protocol.
Server certificate
All 55 items called securely!
Secure calls made to other websites:
fonts.googleapis.com is valid and secure.

maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com is valid and secure.

pagead2.googlesyndication.com is valid and secure.

fonts.gstatic.com is valid and secure.

IE and Opera seem to be satisfied and I doubt there is any real issue so you could use IE if you need to get in.

RumRat

Just add it as an exception if you feel that the warning is in error.

kwikbreaks

There is another possibility though which just occurred to me - check the date on your PC. An incorrect date can invalidate SSL certificates although usually it is way out due to a flat CMOS battery and just about every site gets questioned.

forgotmyname

Website not configured properly Firefox shows.

If you goto the site without the https it works fine. Except the red X through the padlock saying the site is not secure.

Seems someone who runs the forum, does not know how to set the clock. Time now 11:49 and the site thinks its 10:49. Hence the problem.

agrinnall

Firefox is definitely getting more picky on what it considers to be correct configuration of websites, but I'd probably prefer to get an alert which I can choose to ignore than find myself somewhere dubious without any attempt to block access.

RumRat

agrinnall wrote: »

Firefox is definitely getting more picky on what it considers to be correct configuration of websites, but I'd probably prefer to get an alert which I can choose to ignore than find myself somewhere dubious without any attempt to block access.

As forgotmyname states, it's usually a time issue. Either the website has the wrong time or your PC does (usually the site). I got a few warnings just after the clocks went forward but they have been sorted now.
I you can identify it as a time problem and you know its a safe site, then you can add it as an exception.
I don't think it's picky, the warnings are very rare (on my PC anyway).

DoaM

forgotmyname wrote: »

Time now 11:49 and the site thinks its 10:49.

Which means the site's server hasn't had the clock changed for BST (or DST if you prefer).

anotheruser

Alternatively, look at another browser which is as secure but is also less picky about visiting certain websites, like Chrome, Edge...

RumRat

Nah! I'll stick with FF and have a browser that does what I want....Thanks though...

anotheruser

I understand but it's so far bast it's best before date, it's not even funny any more.
Sort of like people sticking with Windows 98, because it does what they want..