Restoring iCloud Sync / Account Access / Safari access to iCloud.com

[mattspace]

Hi Folks,

If anyone is currently experiencing issues connecting to iCloud.com in Safari 13, or can't get to their iCloud account details in the iCloud Prefpane, or is finding apps haven't been syncing in the last ~24 hours, Apple appears to have made a change to their server infrastructure tha breaks the compatability with the system's security certificate setup, so that the OS (and therefore Safari) can't validate setup.icloud.com.

There's a solution that takes about 10 seconds, which is to download and install an intermediate certificate from Apple, and that fixes the problem instantly. you can find the instructions here:

How I solved the Safari 13 and High Sierr… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

This was a solution for an older problem relating to connecting to idmsa.apple.com, but it applies to this one as well.

 

[LeonardoCorax]

Huge thanks for this - I was tearing my hair out trying to discover why iCloud Drive had suddenly stopped syncing on two Sierra machines. Using Cirrus from The Eclectic Light Company I was able to see a lot of log entries relating to certificate errors which sent me looking in that direction, and your tip saved the day.

 

[mattspace]

Huge thanks for this - I was tearing my hair out trying to discover why iCloud Drive had suddenly stopped syncing on two Sierra machines. Using Cirrus from The Eclectic Light Company I was able to see a lot of log entries relating to certificate errors which sent me looking in that direction, and your tip saved the day.

Glad I could help, gives a warm fuzzy glow, ya know, to spend a day fixing the products of a *trillion* dollar company for free *sigh*.

 

[eicca]

My iCloud Drive on my old High Sierra MBP also just quit working. Applied the certificate. Still waiting to see if it fixes the issue.

This is why Apple needs to quit it with the yearly OS updates. The ONE thing Windows has going for it is, if it works on the hardware, then everything stays pretty much current.

 

[mattspace]

My iCloud Drive on my old High Sierra MBP also just quit working. Applied the certificate. Still waiting to see if it fixes the issue.

This is why Apple needs to quit it with the yearly OS updates. The ONE thing Windows has going for it is, if it works on the hardware, then everything stays pretty much current.

If you try loading www.icloud.com in Safari on High Sierra, and it works, iCloud drive should work as well - at least that's been my experience.

 

[mattspace]

EDIT May 21: The certificate expired today at 1:45am Australian Eastern Time, and everything broke again, aside from getting Account Details in System Preferences.

Until Apple issues an updated certificate, a temporary workaround is to open Keychain Access, go to Login Keychain. View Menu > Show Expired Certificates. Right click on the CA 2 - G1 certificate, go to the Trust Section, and set "When Using Certificate" to: Always Trust.

 

[eicca]

EDIT May 21: The certificate expired today at 1:45am Australian Eastern Time, and everything broke again, aside from getting Account Details in System Preferences.

Until Apple issues an updated certificate, a temporary workaround is to open Keychain Access, go to Login Keychain. View Menu > Show Expired Certificates. Right click on the CA 2 - G1 certificate, go to the Trust Section, and set "When Using Certificate" to: Always Trust.

Can confirm. My High Sierra MacBook Pro didn't sync any iCloud data until I performed these steps, and it immediately began working again.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

Can confirm. My High Sierra MacBook Pro didn't sync any iCloud data until I performed these steps, and it immediately began working again.

It looks the solution was only temporary as per some user on Apple Support Forums.

Fortunately, user @pedrocaiano from Apple Support Forums linked a new Apple IST CA 2 G1 certificate valid until May 2025. This one is issued by Baltimore Cybertrust.

His post was reported and deleted however as someone complained that it wasn’t from a trusted source…

Anyway: https://ssl-tools.net/subjects/268487b38c50152997dbd4d17e37ff3f2ef31568

Right click PEM file by Baltimore Cybertrust (2nd one) save as, then double click and give admin user/pass…

Also found here: https://www.e2encrypted.com/certs/31134a0f94f8a5a6154b5d095f6837e8358d391d/

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

 

[mattspace]

I’ll check up the solution I posted in the morning, but I have a suspicion my solution to allow the expired cert might have broken again within a day.

The real rock & hard place thing is that while 10.13 isn’t a supported OS, iCloud lists it’s official support as all the way back to Yosemite.

 

[eicca]

I’ll check up the solution I posted in the morning, but I have a suspicion my solution to allow the expired cert might have broken again within a day.

The real rock & hard place thing is that while 10.13 isn’t a supported OS, iCloud lists it’s official support as all the way back to Yosemite.

This is why the yearly OS cycle drives me insane. The one thing I can praise Windows for: if it runs on the hardware, it’s pretty much current.

So stupid that my Windows 10 install on my Mac Pro has better support and compatibility than the Mac install.

 

[eicca]

It looks the solution was only temporary as per some user on Apple Support Forums.

Fortunately, user @pedrocaiano from Apple Support Forums linked a new Apple IST CA 2 G1 certificate valid until May 2025. This one is issued by Baltimore Cybertrust.

His post was reported and deleted however as someone complained that it wasn’t from a trusted source…

Anyway: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwibrIPv-vD3AhWkk4kEHVRdBnMQFnoECAoQAQ&url=https://ssl-tools.net/subjects/268487b38c50152997dbd4d17e37ff3f2ef31568&usg=AOvVaw3GvwZ0EHSZ_bxa8P61P_5v

Right click save as, then double click and give admin user/pass…

View attachment 2007818

Also found here: https://www.e2encrypted.com/certs/31134a0f94f8a5a6154b5d095f6837e8358d391d/

I don't know if I'm not doing this right, but right-clicking only gives me a web link and the second link doesn't have a valid download. Just gives me page errors.

Any other options? I need my laptop to just keep working.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

I don't know if I'm not doing this right, but right-clicking only gives me a web link and the second link doesn't have a valid download. Just gives me page errors.

Any other options? I need my laptop to just keep working.

Sorry, the first link should be: https://ssl-tools.net/subjects/268487b38c50152997dbd4d17e37ff3f2ef31568

You open this page and you’ll be presented with this:

Then, right-click the PEM Baltimore Cyber Trust link and save as. You’re then supposed to have a new certificate (.cer file) appearing in your download folder. Double clicking will open Keychain and asks for credentials.

My post wasn’t really clear, sorry!

 

[eicca]

Sorry, the first link should be: https://ssl-tools.net/subjects/268487b38c50152997dbd4d17e37ff3f2ef31568

You open this page and you’ll be presented with this:

View attachment 2007868
Then, right-click the PEM Baltimore Cyber Trust link and save as. You’re then supposed to have a new certificate (.cer file) appearing in your download folder. Double clicking will open Keychain and asks for credentials.

My post wasn’t really clear, sorry!

So I follow those steps and it downloads a .pem file. I was able to add it to the login keychain but it never asked for cred. iCloud still isn't syncing. I'm doing something wrong, but not sure what.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

So I follow those steps and it downloads a .pem file. I was able to add it to the login keychain but it never asked for cred. iCloud still isn't syncing. I'm doing something wrong, but not sure what.

For me, choosing « save link as » converted the PEM file to .cer in Safari…

**Sorry, I used Chrome, not Safari…

 

[eicca]

For me, choosing « save link as » converted the PEM file to .cer in Safari…

**Sorry, I used Chrome, not Safari…

I'm in Firefox. Tried with both FF and Safari and it saves as PEM. Manually changed extension to .cer and it still doesn't ask for cred when installing, and doesn't fix the sync issue.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

Just for fun I tried « save linked file as » in Safari and got a PEM file instead. Clicking on it, it opens Keychain and asks for credentials too. I’m on Sierra BTW…

 

[eicca]

Just for fun I tried « save linked file as » in Safari and got a PEM file instead. Clicking on it, it opens Keychain and asks for credentials too. I’m on Sierra BTW…

Interesting. My certificate does appear in Keychain. But sync still ain't working.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

Interesting. My certificate does appear in Keychain. But sync still ain't working.

A reboot or logout/login maybe?

 

[eicca]

A reboot or logout/login maybe?

First thing I tried...

Congrats, Apple, you've got me considering an M1 Air because of your forced obsolescence practices. Hope you're happy.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

Hoping they’ll issue a « fix » or a new certificate… Sorry it doesn’t work for you.

 

[eicca]

Hoping they’ll issue a « fix » or a new certificate… Sorry it doesn’t work for you.

For real though. How many people have iCloud services that are bricked now?

Sigh.... Maybe it's just time. I mean, 11 years of service out of this machine is pretty freakin' good.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

For real though. How many people have iCloud services that are bricked now?

Sigh.... Maybe it's just time. I mean, 11 years of service out of this machine is pretty freakin' good.

A lot of people since yesterday and it looks they are not in a hurry to fix it. Better for them if we have to buy a new machine.

**You have a PM BTW...

***I would delete the certificate you have in Keychain, close it and import what I've sent you by PM...

 

[eicca]

A lot of people since yesterday and it looks they are not in a hurry to fix it. Better for them if we have to buy a new machine.

**You have a PM BTW...

***I would delete the certificate you have in Keychain, close it and import what I've sent you by PM...

All steps completed. iCloud Drive still isn't working, but Messages and Calendar are syncing fine for some reason.

 

[Patrice Brousseau]

All steps completed. iCloud Drive still isn't working, but Messages and Calendar are syncing fine for some reason.

I wasn’t noticing as I do not use iCloud Drive. I only sync contacts and Calendar…