sync ssl certificate error connecting to sync.zotero.org

nickie23 · April 30, 2010

I am also getting the error: SSL certificate error connecting to sync.zotero.org
It only happens on my laptop at school, not my home computer.

danielfaas · June 24, 2010

All this doesn´t helped me to fix the problem.....since weeks. So what to do?

dstillman · September 7, 2010

I've created a knowledge base article on this issue.

danielfaas · September 8, 2010

Thanks Dan...Now its working at my computer also.....;o)

jamescrice · June 26, 2014

I started getting this error on my system today when Zotero autoupdated to the latest version. My Norton firewall began blocking Zotero right after the update. Zotero reports an SSL certificate problem and it can't sync. The sync completes when I turn the firewall off (briefly). The Report ID is 1037210801

adamsmith · June 26, 2014

that sounds like a Norton issue, no?

jamescrice · June 26, 2014

I would normally say that. Except it was working fine prior to the update. It stopped working as soon as the Zotero update complete. My Norton configuration didn't change. This happened to me once before following a Zotero update and it went away with the next update.

jamescrice · June 26, 2014

BTW: The update was to 4.0.21.2

dstillman · June 26, 2014

See https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/ssl_certificate_error

If you're getting an SSL certificate error, then Norton is intercepting your secure connections. It's not acting as a firewall in the traditional sense — it's actually intercepting your connections, and Zotero is properly protecting you from that. If syncing in Zotero for Firefox still works, you could follow the cert override instructions in the linked article — you'd essentially be telling Zotero to accept the fake zotero.org server that Norton is acting as.

jamescrice · June 27, 2014

Reported the false capture to Norton and received the response below. This is the second time I have had to do this for Zotero. The report recommends that software vendors participate in Norton's whitelist program. This might be a good idea for the Zotero team.

===============

In relation to submission [3548813].

Upon further analysis and investigation we have verified your submission and as such this detection will be removed from our products.

The updated detection will be distributed in the next set of virus definitions, available via LiveUpdate or from our website at http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html

Decisions made by Symantec are subject to change if alterations to the Software are made over time or as classification criteria and/or the policy employed by Symantec changes over time to address the evolving landscape.

If you are a software vendor, why not take part in our whitelisting program? To participate in this program, please complete the following form: https://submit.symantec.com/whitelist

Sincerely,
Symantec Security Response
http://securityresponse.symantec.com

dstillman · June 27, 2014

We occasionally submit versions to them that trigger false positives, but I doubt we're going to proactively submit versions to them — it's their job to make tools that don't interfere with legitimate software (or for people to choose software that doesn't do so).

I'm curious whether you're actually getting a message from the Norton software itself, though, and if so what it is. An SSL certificate error in Zotero means that something is intercepting the connection, and I assumed that Norton simply did that system-wide and installed custom root certificates in installed browsers to suppress the error, which would cause trouble for all non-browser software (including in Zotero unless you followed the cert override instructions). But maybe it's intercepting connections more selectively based on the software in question?