From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

Hello all,

I sometimes when trying to go to a website (in this case: undocumented.ntinternals.net) FF pops up an "Your connection is not secure" error. When I than click "Advanced" I get a reason (in this case : "invalid security certificate"), and an "add exception" button is displayed.

My question : where is such an exception stored (database?) and how am I supposed to manage them ?

iow: how do I make sure that the exception is *temporary* (session-only?).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox


I forgot to mention : FireFox 52 (last one for XP)


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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

On 2026-02-13 11:02, R.Wieser wrote:

Hello all,

I sometimes when trying to go to a website (in this case: undocumented.ntinternals.net) FF pops up an "Your connection is not secure" error. When I than click "Advanced" I get a reason (in this case : "invalid security certificate"), and an "add exception" button is displayed.

My question : where is such an exception stored (database?) and how am I supposed to manage them ?

iow: how do I make sure that the exception is *temporary* (session-only?).

Notice that the security problem is probably caused by your use of
ancient software that is using a old certificate chain. Certificates
expire, and new certs get added.


In an up to date FFx, settings, search for "exceptions". Browse down,
till a button named "View certificates". A yellow text says the word "Exceptions" is inside.

I did not find any, probably meaning that I have not added any exception
in this browser.
--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.
ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

Carlos,

Notice that the security problem is probably caused by your use of ancient software that is using a old certificate chain. Certificates expire, and
new certs get added.

Possibly. If you know how to add a new root certificate (and where to get one) to my ancient software OS as well as browser) than I would like to
know.

In an up to date FFx, settings, search for "exceptions". Browse down, till
a button named "View certificates". A yellow text says the word
"Exceptions" is inside.

In my browser there is a certificates section tucked away under tools -> options -> advanced -> cerificates -> view certificates , which than shows five tabs : Your cerificates, People, Servers, Authorities and Others.

I would not even know if that is where an exception (pinned) certificate is stored. None of the tabs have a name in that direction.

And I have not been too clear with my question : I desire to know in which file (database?) such exceptions are stored, so I can follow the closing of the browser up with removing that file (think: making the exception session-only).

Remark : It looks like exceptions are stored in the cert8.db file, which, alas, is not easily editable (not an sqlite database).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

On 2026-02-16 13:59, R.Wieser wrote:

Carlos,

Notice that the security problem is probably caused by your use of ancient >> software that is using a old certificate chain. Certificates expire, and
new certs get added.

Possibly. If you know how to add a new root certificate (and where to get one) to my ancient software OS as well as browser) than I would like to
know.

No, sorry, I don't know.

In Windows, I don't know if FFx uses its own cert store. Then, maybe,
using an up to date installation export the certificates, then import
them in your machine. I suspect simply copying the files will not work.

In an up to date FFx, settings, search for "exceptions". Browse down, till >> a button named "View certificates". A yellow text says the word
"Exceptions" is inside.

In my browser there is a certificates section tucked away under tools -> options -> advanced -> cerificates -> view certificates , which than shows five tabs : Your cerificates, People, Servers, Authorities and Others.

I would not even know if that is where an exception (pinned) certificate is stored. None of the tabs have a name in that direction.

Current FFx has a box to search a keyword in the settings, and it says
that the word "exceptions" is right there. But I have not found where
exactly.

And I have not been too clear with my question : I desire to know in which file (database?) such exceptions are stored, so I can follow the closing of the browser up with removing that file (think: making the exception session-only).

Remark : It looks like exceptions are stored in the cert8.db file, which, alas, is not easily editable (not an sqlite database).

I suspect exceptions are stored in a database, not a file you can edit
or delete.
--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.
ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

Carlos,

If you know how to add a new root certificate (and where to get
one) to my ancient software OS as well as browser) than I would like
to know.

No, sorry, I don't know.

No problem. As I'm using "ancient software" I didn't really expect you to know, but had to ask to make sure.

In Windows, I don't know if FFx uses its own cert store.

That would be the cert8.db file (and possibly key8.db too).

Current FFx has a box to search a keyword in the settings,

I just checked, and could not find it. Must be one of those "new" additions to FF. :-)

I suspect exceptions are stored in a database, not a file you can edit or delete.

Agreed, that database is a file too, I can and I can.

The only problem with the first "I can" is that hex-editing it "just might" (understatement) make the file unusable. :-)

For the second "I can", I can copy the current cert8.db database file somewhere, and copy back from it just after or before starting FF itself.
Not the cleanest way to do it, but it will most likely work.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

R.Wieser wrote:

Carlos,

If you know how to add a new root certificate (and where to get
one) to my ancient software OS as well as browser) than I would like
to know.

No, sorry, I don't know.

No problem. As I'm using "ancient software" I didn't really expect you to know, but had to ask to make sure.

Maybe you can, with lots of tricks and tweaking until down to the OS
WinXP included. But i doubt that this would last.

In Windows, I don't know if FFx uses its own cert store.

That would be the cert8.db file (and possibly key8.db too).

IIRC at least up to Win7 or so Firefox hast it's own certificates
stored in these cert8.db, cert9.db and so on in it's profile.
But some root certificates are stored somewhere in Windows itself and
are fetched from there.

Agreed, that database is a file too, I can and I can.

The only problem with the first "I can" is that hex-editing it "just might" (understatement) make the file unusable. :-)

It surely will. Because it's about security. And you aren't allowed to
mess with security. ;-)

For the second "I can", I can copy the current cert8.db database file somewhere, and copy back from it just after or before starting FF itself. Not the cleanest way to do it, but it will most likely work.

Could work. You can also copy your whole Firefox profile back and forth,
back and forth as many times as you wish, just to be sure. Or even your complete Windows installation. It's your Computer. :-)
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 13:07:16 +0100, Carlos E. R. wrote:

On 2026-02-13 11:02, R.Wieser wrote:

Hello all,

I sometimes when trying to go to a website (in this case:
undocumented.ntinternals.net) FF pops up an "Your connection is not
secure"
error. When I than click "Advanced" I get a reason (in this case :
"invalid security certificate"), and an "add exception" button is
displayed.

My question : where is such an exception stored (database?) and how am
I supposed to manage them ?

iow: how do I make sure that the exception is *temporary*
(session-only?).

Notice that the security problem is probably caused by your use of
ancient software that is using a old certificate chain. Certificates
expire, and new certs get added.

In an up to date FFx, settings, search for "exceptions". Browse down,
till a button named "View certificates". A yellow text says the word "Exceptions" is inside.

I did not find any, probably meaning that I have not added any exception
in this browser.

I have several (fx 140.7.0esr). It doesn't say what each exception is but
I recognise 2 types:
1 where I've overridden a warning such as SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN eg https://alt.comp.software.firefox.narkive.com/
2 devices on my LAN on which I have configured a self-signed certificate
eg. An RPi, localhost
I deleted the ones I didn't recognise from the 'certificate' tab.

I can also click on the padlock of, say, the narkive.com site and turn the exception on or off. On the RPi site I can only remove the exception that
way.
--
(Remove any numerics from my email address.)
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

Op 16-02-2026 om 13:59 schreef R.Wieser:

In my browser there is a certificates section tucked away under tools -> options -> advanced -> cerificates -> view certificates , which than shows five tabs : Your cerificates, People, Servers, Authorities and Others.

I would not even know if that is where an exception (pinned) certificate is stored. None of the tabs have a name in that direction.

Exceptions are stored under the Servers tab, it looks like you don't
have any.
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:09:59 -0000 (UTC), Dave Royal wrote:

I can also click on the padlock of, say, the narkive.com site and
turn the exception on or off. On the RPi site I can only remove the
exception that way.

Any exceptions added during private browsing disappear as soon as the
private browsing session ends.
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:15:20 +0100, Carlos E. R. wrote:

I suspect exceptions are stored in a database, not a file you can
edit or delete.

It would be an SQLite database, which you can access and modify using
the usual SQLite tools.
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

Lawrence,

Any exceptions added during private browsing disappear as soon
as the private browsing session ends.

My (ancient) version of FF doesn't seem to support private browsing
sessions.

I suspect exceptions are stored in a database, not a file you can
edit or delete.

It would be an SQLite database, which you can access and modify
using the usual SQLite tools.

When I found the cert8.db file opening it as an sqlite database was the
first thing I tried. It didn't work.

Googeling for it showed it needed a special tool, named certutil (not the
same as the Windows one!). Which I cannot find the binaries of.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


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