nginx ssl_error ai_generated true

nginx: [emerg] SSL_CTX_use_certificate_chain_file("/etc/nginx/ssl/cert.pem") failed (SSL: error:0200100D:system library:fopen:Permission denied)

ID: nginx/ssl-certificate-error

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
90%Fix Rate
90%Confidence
3Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
1 active — — —
1 active — — —

Root Cause

SSL certificate cannot be loaded. File not found, wrong permissions, invalid PEM format, or incomplete certificate chain.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 92% success Check file permissions and ownership on certificate files 
    ls -la /etc/nginx/ssl/; chown root:root cert.pem key.pem; chmod 644 cert.pem; chmod 600 key.pem

    Sources: https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html

  2. 90% success Verify the certificate chain is complete and in correct order 
    openssl verify -CAfile ca-bundle.crt cert.pem; cat cert.pem intermediate.pem > fullchain.pem  # server cert first, then intermediates
  3. 85% success Validate PEM format and key match 
    openssl x509 -noout -modulus -in cert.pem | md5sum; openssl rsa -noout -modulus -in key.pem | md5sum  # must match

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Generate a self-signed certificate for production 82% fail

    Self-signed certificates trigger browser warnings and are rejected by most clients. Use Let's Encrypt for free valid certificates.

  2. Set ssl_verify_client off assuming it fixes the error 88% fail

    ssl_verify_client controls client certificate verification, not server certificate loading. Different directive entirely.