safari can't establish a secure connection

For anyone still having this problem, I found out that it was simply my date and time settings that had been reseted, and therefore I just had to manually adjust my calendar and time so that they corresponded with the certificats of all online servers.

a quick update:

Problem's still not solved, but I've established it's only confined to google.com sites (google, maps, youtube etc). iTunes is actually working fine.

I've also taken my router (airport extreme) out of the loop, so wired connection to modem now - same problem. Thinking about upgrading the modem in case that's the problem.

Any ideas?

I have had numerous problems with getting PKI certificates to work properly on my MBP. My issue is that I am using PKard to install US government PKI certificates from a CAC onto my Mac - I use both a MBP (late 2012) and an iMac (mid 2011). Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had no issues. Both Macs are running the latest software updates from Apple.

But now my access to certain PKI-enabled MS SharePoint sites is failing. Not blocked - Safari just tells me that the secure connection has failed. I access multiple PKI-enabled MS SharePoint sites, they are each controlled by separate domains. And it is only one MS SharePoint site that fails to establish a secure connection, the other loads without any issues. To make matters even more confusing, this is only happening on my MBP, access to PKI-enabled MS SharePoint sites from this one domain is working just fine on my iMac.

I did get a new CAC at roughly the same time as the problems were occurring. But in the past this has never presented itself as a problem - I automatically delete my PKI certificates from Keychain Access and then reload them using the PKard Assistant (see below). I am sure I am missing something with this - but I am at a loss as to explain what it is exactly as I can still access this particular domain's PKI-enabled MS SharePoint sites from my iMac.

Both Macs access the Internet via my home wi-fi. I tried accessing the Internet via a hard line to the modem (CAT5 cable) with both Macs, the problem repeats itself. I also access the Internet on occasion via a tethered connection to my iPhone 6s Plus. The problem repeats itself there as well (I did test this by tethering both my MBP and iMac).

- I don't think this is due to Apple pushing some sort of security update - as I can access the PKI-enabled MS SharePoint site on my iMac. This would be a possibility if it was occurring on both Macs. Same goes on the SharePoint side - I have spoken (via email) to the admins for the site I am having issues accessing, there is nothing wrong with my permissions. Also, my PKI certificates work fine with Outlook Web Access (OWA).

- I have added the specific domain to ClicktoPlugin and Ghostery. I have also tried disabling them entirely as well, neither worked (ClicktoPlugin should be interfering, but I figured why not try this).

- I have disabled GlimmerBlocker entirely. This had no effect.

- I have created a rule to allow all connections from the domain in Little Snitch, as well as disabling it entirely. This had no effect.

- I disabled IPv6 via the Terminal, for both Ethernet and Wi-Fi. This had no effect.

- I disabled each component of Intego VirusBundle X8, and also uninstalled it completely. This had no effect.

- I have deleted and reloaded my PKI certificates from my CAC using PKard. This had no effect.

- I have turned off and turned back on the Mac Firewall. This had no effect.

- I have deleted all Safari security preference files (

~/Library/Preferences/

- I followed a recommendation in this thread ( Link to this post ) about setting certain certificates to not trusted, trusted, system defaults, nothing worked. I also did this for my US government PKI certificates, same failure to establish a secure connection.

Any help would be appreciated. I use my MBP for work (I don't always have access to a US government computer), and need only to access OWA and MS SharePoint sites. It is a pain to have to drive home (1/2 hour drive) just to send an email or update a SharePoint site.

Open safari > safari preferences > general > set safari opens with new window .

you must have enabled as : A new private window that is private browsing .

And in private browsing cookies are disabled , to run Facebook cookies must be enabled .

An article for private browsing is there : Safari 8 (Yosemite): Use Private Browsing windows

Hello All,

I had the same issue. Chrome and Safari wouldn't open any https websites, error message : Safari can't establish a secure connection ...

I tried all solutions you can imagine , but no success.

and then ... I noticed my OS X time is not syncing with Apple too (time.apple.com) , so I put it on manual and changed the time to exact time manually

WOHOOO .. everything started to work , all security errors are gone, my anti-virus updated instantly without me touching it .

I am super happy 🙂

I review the whole post on this subject. Nothing helped. :-(

"Can not connect to the server" message on each browser including Approte :-(

Mac Pro just upgraded to ElCapitan :-( as a result few apps do not work (VMWare, Apperture ... as most important to me)

I tried to get update for Apperture and .. failed. Appstore can not connect to the server. None of the browser can nonnect using SSL.

Basically dead in the water.

I had Norton Security installed - removed the whole application. - no help

I do not have any other AV software. I am going crazy here.

btw. the same network settings are on my laptop MacBookpro and there is no problem at all.

Please help

Greg

I solved this issue, but I'm not sure it's the solution for everyone. Try creating a new account on the Mac. Doesn't matter what kind but create a standard account first. Login with the new account. Launch Safari and visit the "problem" website in Safari.

If you don't get the error then the problem is something in the other account. I have not figured out what that might be.

Have you made sure your software is completely up to date?

You should be at one of the following:

10.6.8

10.7.5

10.8.5

10.9.4

From your Safari menu bar click Safari > Preferences then select the Privacy tab.

Click: Remove All Website Data

Then delete the cache.

Open a Finder window. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder

Type or copy paste the following

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

Click Go then move the Cache.db file to the Trash.

Quit and relaunch Safari to test.

If that didn't help, check System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > Firewall Options

Safari can't Establish a secure connection😟

This might fix it.

I ended up installing fresh OS X.

Turns out it was my mac antivirus that was causing the "Safari can't Establish a secure connection". All website are working after i disable the Web Shield in my antivirus setting.

I had the same problem both on Safari and Firefox. I disabled "Web Shield" in my Avast anti-virus program, and now it works fine.

What I don't understand is, why it started creating this problem all of a sudden ? I have had Avast installed for weeks and was able

to go to any website.

I've been having the same problem of not being able to connect to some websites (Google, Facebook, Apple, and a few others) while I could connect flawlessly to others... No matter what Browser I tried I would get the same results.. I scoured every forum that I could find (or connect to, really. lmao) but I could never find any solution. Any suggestions I read were useless or didn't pertain to the original problem.. But then I saw this, and checked my Avast settings to try to turn off the Web Shield. Sure enough, after closing out of all browsers, re-booting Safari, and testing out all sites I couldn't connect to.. They worked! all of them.

TL:DR; Check your Anti-virus setup for any sort of 'Web-Shielding' and try turning it off.

No guarantee, but post your results so we can all get an idea if this is truly a simple solution..

Safari - Unsupported third-party add-ons may cause Safari to unexpectedly quit or have performance issues

Safari doesn't load a page or webpage items are missing

Safari/other browsers – Website not loading

Stay safe - avoid completely disabling your antivirus applications and/or the web shield features. Make the smallest changes first, then turn things off only if absolutely necessary.

Instead, check your AV app for a place/way to specify safe sites. In my case, I could not get to a banking site. I suspect the problem is that they are using SSL, not TLS for securing their server, but regardless, here is the step I took that fixed my problem (had the same error about Safari can't establish a secure connection):

1. Open the AV app
2. Look for settings or preferences (Avast: Preferences)
3. Locate the web configuration section (Avast: Web Shield)
4. Locate the configuration change feature (Avast: Settings)
5. Locate the add trusted site feature (Avast: "+" symbol)
6. Type the server name; for example, "www.news.com", or "www.appleheadaches.com", or "geewhiz.org".
7. Select whether it's a regular http site or a secure https site. Hint: if it's causing headaches, it's probably an https site.
8. Save the new site (Avast: click the Add button).
9. Profit!!!

That fixed my problem in seconds. I no longer get the Safari connection error; I get to the site I was trying to load in the first place.

And my security controls are still in place, keeping my *** out of trouble!

Hope this helps!