Introduction to Handle SSL Certificate in Selenium

Selenium WebDriver runs every test on a fresh profile without the SSL certificates, which results in the issue. There are good Selenium courses that provide adequate knowledge of this concept so you can check them out.

By simulating human interactions on the web browser, Selenium surely makes tedious testing work easier, but there are distinct differences when running tests using automation. You may have seen situations when manually opening a website works just fine, but doing the identical activity using Selenium WebDriver results in an error message that reads, “This Connection is Untrusted.” Have you ever questioned why anything occurs? The solution is straightforward; when a URL is manually opened, the browser imports the necessary certificates automatically, and there is no error. In addition,

What is an SSL certificate?

A secure connection is established between the server and the client (browser) using the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) standard security protocol. With the help of an SSL certificate, data is encrypted and delivered to the correct server. It serves as proof of the legitimacy of the website and deters hackers.

What is an untrusted SSL certificate?

The SSL certificate assists in determining whether a website is who it says it is whenever you attempt to visit it. If there is a problem with the certificate, a message stating “This connection is untrusted” will appear in your browser window. the message “Your connection is not private”

The many sorts of SSL certificate issues and how to manage them in Selenium automation will be covered in the sections that follow. Let’s first examine the operation of an SSL certificate before moving on.

How does the SSL certificate work?

As already said, the SSL certificate helps create a secure connection.

The following are the steps that summarise how things work internally:

• The HTTPS request is sent to the server by the browser.
• The server transmits the SSL certificate to the browser as evidence that it can be trusted.

These days, every browser contains a list of trusted certificate authorities (CAs). The browser checks the certificate against the trusted CAs to see if it is present, hasn’t expired or been revoked, and that its common name is legitimate for the requested domain.

The browser accepts the certificate if every check in the step above is accurate. It also results in the establishment of an encrypted session between the server and the browser.

Now, communications can be sent in an encrypted format between the server and the browser.

What are the different types of SSL certificates?

If you’ve ever looked at the zip file that the Certificate Authority sent you for your website’s SSL certificate, you’ve probably noticed that it contains multiple SSL files, not just one. Three different SSL certificate types are offered by the Certificate Signing Authority:

• Root Certificate
• Intermediate Certificate
• Server Certificate

A digital certificate that belongs to the Certificate Authority is called the Root Certificate. Most browsers have it pre-downloaded, and the CAs are very protective of it.

On the other hand, the Intermediate Certificate acts as a bridge between the Root and the Server certificates. It requires installation on your server and connects the client to the CA.

The main certificate you obtain for installation on your server is the Server Certificate.

What are the different types of SSL certificate errors?

A notice such as “This site is not secure” or “Your connection is not private” may appear after making an HTTPS request. Other browsers may display various error messages for this SSL certificate problem, as shown below:

• Chrome – Your connection is not private.
• Firefox – Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead.
• IE – This site is not secure.
• Safari – Safari can’t verify the identity of the website.

There is one thing that all of these issues have in common, namely the cause of the mistake, despite the fact that the error messages that display on different browsers may change. Each untrusted SSL has a valid justification. Here are a few examples of standard error causes:

• Expired Certificate Error: Error code ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID is displayed when a website certificate has expired and causes a certificate error.
• Revoked Certificate Error: When a website’s certificate is revoked, an error message with the error number ERR_CERT_REVOKED appears.
• Self-Signed Certificate Error: This error, which has the error code ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID, occurs when the certificate is either self-signed or signed by an untrusted source.

Although the aforementioned problems are frequent, the website you access may also have other SSL errors.

Conclusion 

A secure connection between the client and the server can be established with the aid of SSL.

Additionally, the SSL certificate establishes a secure connection in small increments. The many types of certificates that the Certificate Signing Authority offers also include Root, Intermediate, and Server certificates. Revoked, Self-Signed, and Expired SSL certificate issues are only a few examples. Additionally, in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers, untrusted SSL certificates can be managed using the relevant functions ChromeOptions(), FirefoxOptions(), and EdgeOptions(). Finally, if you want to know more about other Selenium topics, you can check out how to scroll down in Selenium.