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How can I cure SSL_ERROR_BAD_MAC_ALERT, please?

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by barrowgate

barrowgate
barrowgate
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Just recently I have been seeing the "Secure Connection Failed SSL_ERROR_BAD_MAC_ALERT" message a lot, especially on Google and YouTube, never having seen it before.

Full details are:

"Secure Connection Failed An error occurred during a connection to www.youtube.com. SSL peer reports incorrect Message Authentication Code. Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_MAC_ALERT 

 The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.    Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem."

A number of forums have suggested the following actions to deal with this, including:

  • making sure all Windows updates are in place
  • doing virus scan (Kaspersky and Malwarebytes in my case)
  • checking date/time is correct
  • using cmd -> arp -a
  • using cmd -> ipconfig /flushdns 
I've done all this -- not necessarily in that order -- and still it's there.  Any further suggestions much appreciated.

Very many thanks in advance. kind regards Brian

Acer laptop running Windows 8.1

Just recently I have been seeing the "Secure Connection Failed SSL_ERROR_BAD_MAC_ALERT" message a lot, especially on Google and YouTube, never having seen it before. Full details are: "Secure Connection Failed An error occurred during a connection to www.youtube.com. SSL peer reports incorrect Message Authentication Code. Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_MAC_ALERT The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem." A number of forums have suggested the following actions to deal with this, including: *making sure all Windows updates are in place * doing virus scan (Kaspersky and Malwarebytes in my case) * checking date/time is correct * using cmd -> arp -a * using cmd -> ipconfig /flushdns I've done all this -- not necessarily in that order -- and still it's there. Any further suggestions much appreciated. Very many thanks in advance. kind regards Brian Acer laptop running Windows 8.1

All Replies (4)

Ryan W
Ryan W
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Hi Barrow,

The only question I have is - are you connected to a VPN or Bridge network? Sometimes VPN and Bridge Networks can block specific types of SSL certificates, not allowing you to access them.

Hope this works!

Ryan

barrowgate
barrowgate Question owner
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Apologies for not replying sooner, BandedBuild: thank you for your suggestions.

(As far as I know,) I am not connected to a VPN or Bridge network. My setup is one laptop connected to router and wirelessly to the printer.

Could the VPN/Bridge settings have been changed recently and without my knowledge, do you think?

As I say, this situation only cropped up 2-3 weeks ago. Do you know if Google and/or YouTube have done something which makes access to them -- even Google Search -- pretty well impossible.

Many thanks again for your help.

regards Brian

Ryan W
Ryan W
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Google & YouTube are both operating on the same SSL certificates, which can explain somethings. See if this will help:


Try clearing your cache and cookies by do the following:

"Clearing your cache and cookies will log you out of any websites you are currently logged into."

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu, choose History, and then "Clear Recent History...".
  2. Under "Time range to clear", select "Everything".
  3. Now, click the arrow next to Details to toggle the Details list active.
  4. From the details list, check Cache and Cookies and uncheck everything else.


Hope this information helps!

Ryan

barrowgate
barrowgate Question owner
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So sorry, Ryan: caches and cookies don't seem to be the problem. (I also deleted history, etc, by mistake :-( )

Since then I have tried other "non-Firefox" approaches:

  • an Internet Explorer 11 search can go to Bing OK but not Google (page can't be displayed)
  • a Chrome search goes to Google Search OK and then I can get onto YouTube OK

With Internet Explorer I searched for Microsoft in Bing (OK) then clicked on Outlook Mail (OK) then clicked on Try Outlook.com and got Page Cannot Be Displayed.

"This page canrsquo;t be displayed Turn on TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 in Advanced settings and try connecting to https://signup.live.com again. If this error persists, it is possible that this site uses an unsupported protocol '[oh, the irony!]' or cipher suite such as RC4 (link for the details), which is not considered secure. Please contact your site administrator. "

All the required TLS settings were already in place. SSL 2.0 and 3.0 are not ticked.

I don't know if the above helps at all but any further suggestions would be very gratefully received.

Many thanks once again.

kind regards Brian