Article ID: 186812
Article Last Modified on 11/21/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
This article was previously published under Q186812
We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
SYMPTOMS
When you try to establish communication with a Web site that requires
client authentication, you may receive the following error messages:
HTTP Error 403
403.7 Forbidden: Client certificate required
CAUSE
This error occurs when the resource that you are trying to access requires that your browser has a client Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate that
the server recognizes. This is used for authenticating you as a valid user
of the resource. Contact the administrator of the Web server to obtain a valid client certificate.
There are several possible causes of this problem:
- The root certificate (certificate authority certificate) of the client certificate issuing server is not installed on the computer that is
running IIS.
-or-
- The client certificate has expired or the effective time has not been
reached.
-or-
- The client certificate has been revoked.
RESOLUTION
Depending on the cause of your problem, try one of the following
resolutions:
- Download the root server certificate in a browser on the server
computer. Run the Iisca.exe command line utility that is located in the Inetsrv
directory.
- Check the effective date on the client certificate and make sure that the
date and time has arrived. Check the expiration date and make sure that the
certificate has not expired.
- Contact your certificate authority to see if your certificate has expired.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and IIS 4.0 store their root certificates in different locations of the registry. The Iisca.exe utility synchronizes the two root certificate stores.
REFERENCES
For additional information about another potential cause for this problem, click the article number below
to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
190004 Error 403.7 or 'Connection to Server Could Not Be Established'
Additional query words: 403.7 IE Client SSL
Keywords: kbprb kbprod2web KB186812