So here’s what happening- Let’s Encrypt is a certification authority that is used to provide certificates for Transport Layer Security encryption, free of cost. Since it is free to use, there are many organizations and companies that use its certifications. But one of its root certificates- the IdentTrust DST Root CA X3- has expired on September 30.
So once this expiry date came, all the computers, devices, and web clients including browsers will no longer be trusting certificates from this authority as it might possess a major security risk. This then begs for an all important question- could we update this Let’s Encrypt Certificate and will doing so fix Chrome’s Your connection is not private error with the code ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID. Let’s check it out.
Fix Chrome Error: Your connection is not private ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID
First and foremost, this error has nothing to do with Chrome or any web browser for that matter. The issue is with the IdentTrust DST Root CA X3 certificate expiry which gets automatically updated with the OS. So all the devices that are running an older version of the OS are bound to face this issue. These include Android devices with version 5.0, macOS 2016, and Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), and each of their earlier counterparts as well. Along the same lines, clients that are dependent on the OpenSSL 1.0.2 or earlier versions might also get this error. So this answers our topic of discussion- to fix the Chrome’s Your connection is not private error with the code ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID, you need to update the OS to the latest device. You cannot manually update the Let’s Encrypt Certificate without being on the latest version of the OS.
Most of the general PC and Home users would already be on the newer Android and Windows builds. However, some organizations still continue to use the old OS as switching over to the new one calls for a tremendous amount of economies of scale, and carrying out this deployment is no easy task in itself. So you should consider notifying your network administrator at the earliest so that they are able to chalk out the best route forward. As far as the general users are concerned, you should update the OS at the earliest, not just to fix this certificate error, but using an old OS also poses major security risks too. So on that note, we round off this guide on how you could fix the Your connection is not private error in Chrome with the code ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID. All your queries are welcomed in the comments section below.
UPDATE 1: Install Let’sEncrypt ISRGRootX1 Certificate
Many users were able to rectify this issue on their Mac after manually installing the Let’sEncrypt ISRGRootX1 Certificate. Here’s how:
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