"ssl_error_bad_mac_alert" when visiting Gmail.

[doxavita]

This has never happened to me before. I'm using Firefox 8.0. I often get this error message sometimes when visiting gmail.com, and other times while going to "Log out" once logged in. But I also got it while loading gmail.

Basically I get:

Secure Connection Failed
An error ocurred during a connection to accounts.google.com

SSL peer reports incorrect Message Authentication Code
(Error code: ssl_error_bad_mac_alert)

- The page you are trying to view can not be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.

- Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.
Alternatively, use the command found in the help menu to report this broken site.

and a Try again button.


How do I fix this? Sometimes hitting refresh helps, but is there a way to avoid this error altogether? What should I do? Is it a fault on my side, on google's, or my ISP's?

Your help is really welcomed, thanks!

 

[MacTech68]

Seems this is not a new problem for google. There are user reports of this going back to 2009

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=33c80312cac39828&hl=en

It seems like the server you're speaking with is unable to get everything together for the SSL connection in a timely manner. A number of things happen first when a secure connection is established.

I'm going to suggest it's google's servers unable to cope with the load or a badly compiled server.

You may want to verify that your date and time is accurate (including your timezone) and ensure you're not using any kind of anonymizing software or proxies. If you're using a wireless connection, try plugging in via an ethernet cable instead, making sure you turn Airport OFF.

Either that, or your ISP is trying to cache SSL (unlikely). SSL caching proxies do exist, but I'd rather have a direct connection when using SSL (which is how it's supposed to work).

 

[doxavita]

Well, I tried visiting Gmail.com through my iMac (wired/ethernet connection) and I still got the error message.

Both my iMac and MacBook Pro have the same date/time/timezone (which is accurate)
When I go to Date & Time > Time Zone : "Set time zone automatically using current location" on my MacBook Pro (with AirPort ON) I get "unable to determine current location"
and on my iMac: "Turn on airport to determine your current location"

I was able to visit gmail a few days before with the exact same time/timezone without any issues, and haven't made any changes to both of my systems.

I too think it's a problem on google's end (due to the nature of when I get the error: once every 5-10 visits to gmail.com and pretty much every time I try to log out..). Only solution so far is hitting refresh, this shouldn't be an issue?

 

[MacTech68]

...When I go to Date & Time > Time Zone : "Set time zone automatically using current location" on my MacBook Pro (with AirPort ON) I get "unable to determine current location"
and on my iMac: "Turn on airport to determine your current location"...

I wonder if you should try the following:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2538

On your iMac, check to see that Ethernet is the first preferred network:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp2711.html

The two help docs refer to 10.5 and 10.7 but the instructions should apply to 10.5 thru 10.7

 

[doxavita]

I don't want to mess around too much with any settings.

I'm pretty sure it's google's fault because I had the exact same date/time and hadn't experienced any Gmail issues before.