16-Bit Internet Explorer 3.03 Cannot View Security Certificates

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.03 for Windows 3.1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.03 for Windows NT 3.51

SYMPTOMS

When you are running the 16-bit version of Internet Explorer 3.03, you may not be able to connect to a secure (HTTPS) Web site. In particular, this problem may occur if you are connecting to a Server Gated Crypto (SGC) Web server using a newly installed security certificate. You may receive the following error message:

The Internet site you are trying to view uses a security certificate that was signed by an unknown authority. This page cannot be viewed.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the Web server is sending a chain of certificates but the 16-bit Internet Explorer 3.03 secure connection file does not support certificate chaining. Internet Explorer tries to validate the leaf certificate (which is not a root certificate) and finds that the certificate issuer is not trusted. This validation returns an "unknown issuer" message to Internet Explorer 3.03, which then terminates the connection.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.03 for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51.

The 16-bit version Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.03 Service Pack 1 now has an option to recover when you receive the invalid site certificate error message. To obtain this additional functionality, download this Service Pack from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/ie

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv kbtool msiew31
Version : WINDOWS:3.03
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb