PKI Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - v2.32, by Herong Yang
Viewing Server Certificate Path in IE
This section provides a tutorial example on how to view certificate path when visiting a 'https' Website in IE. The top certificate in a certificate path is the root CA certificate, which is trusted automatically.
When a browser validates a server certificate, it will try to build a certificate path - an ordered list of certificates that satisfy these conditions:
Here is what I did to see the certificate path for https://login.yahoo.com Website on IE.
1. Run IE and go to https://login.yahoo.com and wait for the log in page to be loaded.
2. Click the lock icon at the end of the Web address field. A small pop up windows shows up.
3. Click the "View certificates" link on the pop up window. The Certificate dialog box shows up.
4. Click the "Certificate Path" tab. A certificate path with 3 certificates shows up:
VeriSign - Root CA certificate |- VeriSign Class 3 Secure Server CA - G3 - Intermediate CA certificate |- *.login.yahoo.com - Web server certificate
5. Double click on "VeriSign" in the path. The root CA certificate dialog box shows up. The General tab shows that:
Issued to: VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority- G5 Issued by: VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority- G5 Valid from 11/7/2006 to 7/16/2036
6. Close the root CA certificate dialog box and double click on "VeriSign Class 3 Secure Server CA - G3" in the path. The intermediate CA certificate dialog box shows up. The General tab shows that:
Issued to: VeriSign Class 3 Secure Server CA - G3 Issued by: VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority- G5 Valid from 2/7/2010 to 2/7/2020
7. Close the intermediate CA certificate dialog box.
8. Now click the "General" tab on the original certificate dialog box:
Issued to: *.login.yahoo.com Issued by: VeriSign Class 3 Secure Server CA - G3 Valid from 4/7/2014 to 4/9/2015
What do you think about this certificate path? Should we trust login.yahoo.com now? I think this is a valid certificate path and we should trust login.yahoo.com, because:
The picture below shows you steps to reach the certificate path:
Table of Contents
Introduction of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)
Introduction of HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
Using HTTPS with Google Chrome
Using HTTPS with Mozilla Firefox
►HTTPS with IE (Internet Explorer)
Visiting "https" Website with IE
Viewing Server Certificate Details in IE
►Viewing Server Certificate Path in IE
Installing Server Certificate Permanently in IE
Viewing Certificates in Certificate Stores in IE
Listing of Trusted Root CA in IE
Exporting Certificate to File from IE
Saving Server Certificate to File with IE
IE Supporting Multiple Certificate Paths
IE Reinstalling Root Certificates Automatically
Windows Automatic Root Update Mechanism
Android and Server Certificate
Windows Certificate Stores and Console
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and Server Certificate
macOS Certificate Stores and Keychain Access
Perl Scripts Communicating with HTTPS Servers
PHP Scripts Communicating with HTTPS Servers
Java Programs Communicating with HTTPS Servers
.NET Programs Communicating with HTTPS Servers
CAcert.org - Root CA Offering Free Certificates
PKI CA Administration - Issuing Certificates
Comodo Free Personal Certificate
Digital Signature - Microsoft Word
Digital Signature - OpenOffice.org 3