Level 1

50 points

iOS 4 Mail and self-signed certificates

I connect to a mail server that has a self-signed certificate. Under previous versions of iOS, this meant that I would have to allow the server connection once after a phone restore or update; however under iOS 4.2.1, I have to allow the certificate every time I access mail after the phone has been idle for the 'lock' time.

Can I get iOS 4.2.1 to trust the self-signed certificate the mail server uses?

MacPro Quad Core, G4 1000bT, MacBookPro, mini server, Mac OS X (10.6.5), 10.6.5 Server on MacPro

Posted on Nov 23, 2010 2:59 AM

91 replies

lihuihz

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2010 10:05 PM in response to Syth

i got the same issue, any solution for it? or waiting for iOS 4.3

Nov 24, 2010 7:01 AM in response to Aaron Goldman

The short and simple answer is that yes, it will be less secure. Any unencrypted communication is less secure than encrypted communication.

johninsj

Level 1

70 points

Nov 24, 2010 7:31 AM in response to lihuihz

I'm using a self-signed cert and I am not seeing this. What is the exact error message - perhaps your self-signed cert is expired or has some other error?

mflocks

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2010 9:15 AM in response to Dr_Stein

Having the same exact issue. Is there a fix?

Nov 24, 2010 9:30 AM in response to Syth

Thank you Syth,
What about over the 3G network?

mflocks

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2010 10:21 AM in response to Merged Content 1

None of these suggested fixes work. Ever since the upgrade email gives this error message even after trying the recomendations on this page

Syth Author

Level 1

50 points

Nov 24, 2010 10:52 AM in response to Aaron Goldman

Depends on how much you trust your 3G provider not to log every byte that is sent unencrypted.

Syth Author

Level 1

50 points

Nov 24, 2010 10:54 AM in response to fhdogs

This simply means that your server is not using a self-signed cert, so your workaround is not applicable to anyone who IS using a self-signed cert.

Nov 24, 2010 11:23 AM in response to Syth

Thank you Syth,
My 3G service provider is called "Rogers" - I'm not sure how much I can trust them, seeing that many folks actually call them "Robbers".

Bruno L.

Level 1

13 points

Nov 24, 2010 1:36 PM in response to Merged Content 1

This sounds interesting. Is it valid for accounts other than Exchange account types?

Nov 24, 2010 8:51 PM in response to dsuchter

Yes - this is very annoying. Legit, self-signed certs are getting the temp trust treatment. Tried all, but nada. If Apple could just give us a Pref or something to change the behavior of cert acceptance, we would be on our way.

This is a great example of the closed platform really hurting Apple. If I could get in legitimately, I could probably hack it out and provide a fix. We could probably force option 3.

Thanks dsuchter for the concise description of what is up.

Nov 24, 2010 8:58 PM in response to Community User

BTW, also seeing this on a self-signed cert on my caldavd server through iOS caldav calender. So, I have a bunch of click-throughs to see my information.

Bummer.

Nov 25, 2010 7:09 AM in response to lihuihz

Thanks lihuihz -

I am testing emailing myself the .pem cert file from my server and when i go to download it in MobileMail, at least it is showing an 'Install' button so it can get it into the iOS that way.

Will try for all the self-signed certs I have. Seems positive.

Nov 25, 2010 7:25 AM in response to Community User

Yep - emailing yourself the .pem file from the server gives you the cert install dialogue when you download it from MobileMail. I did this with my Dovecot cert file and no more dialogues to continue.

Thanks lihuihz

Dr_Stein

Level 1

0 points

Nov 25, 2010 7:41 AM in response to johninsj

"The name on my cert matches my email box domain name - I wonder if that matters or not. "

Mine also match. I also tried the IP address just for the heck of it, and it still failed.

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iOS 4 Mail and self-signed certificates