ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID appears in Chrome when the website’s SSL certificate was issued by an untrusted certificate authority, the certificate chain is incomplete (missing intermediate certificate), your system clock is wrong causing the certificate to appear expired, or you are behind a proxy that presents its own certificate. This error prevents the page from loading entirely and requires troubleshooting on either the client or server side.
Common causes include the website’s SSL certificate was issued by an untrusted certificate authority, the certificate chain is incomplete (missing intermediate certificate), your system clock is wrong causing the certificate to appear expired, or you are behind a proxy that presents its own certificate. Most of these issues resolve with client-side fixes that take under five minutes.
What Causes ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID
This error triggers when the network connection between your browser and the remote server fails at a specific stage. The most frequent triggers are misconfigured network settings on your device, overactive security software intercepting connections, stale DNS cache entries, and server-side issues beyond your control. Identifying whether the problem is local or remote is the first diagnostic step.
Check Your System Clock
SSL certificates have valid date ranges. If your computer’s clock is wrong by even a day, Chrome may reject a valid certificate as expired or not-yet-valid. On Windows, right-click the clock, select ‘Adjust date/time,’ and enable ‘Set time automatically.’ Sync now to correct immediately.
Clear SSL State
Open Internet Options from Start menu search, go to Content tab, click ‘Clear SSL state.’ Chrome caches SSL certificate sessions, and a stale entry for a site that renewed its certificate causes ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID until cleared.
Update Root Certificates
Windows needs up-to-date root certificates to trust certificate authorities. Run Windows Update to install the latest root certificate updates. On older Windows versions, missing root certificates cause ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID for certificates that newer systems trust.
Check for MITM Proxy
Corporate networks and some antivirus programs intercept HTTPS by presenting their own certificates. If you see ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID on many sites, check whether your company’s IT department uses SSL inspection. Install their root certificate if required, or disable HTTPS scanning in your antivirus.
Verify the Certificate Chain
For website owners: use ssllabs.com/ssltest to check your certificate chain. A missing intermediate certificate causes ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID even with a valid end-entity certificate. Install the full chain including intermediate certificates on your server.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID mean my computer has a virus?
ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID is a standard browser diagnostic error, not a sign of malware. However, malware that modifies your network settings, DNS configuration, or proxy settings can indirectly trigger this error. If the error persists after all troubleshooting steps, run a full system scan with Windows Defender or Malwarebytes to rule out malware interference.
Why does ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID appear on only some websites?
When ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID affects specific sites, the cause is usually server-side: that particular server may be down, misconfigured, or blocked by your ISP. It can also result from DNS issues specific to that domain or cached entries for that site. Clearing your DNS cache and trying a different DNS server typically resolves site-specific occurrences of this error.
