Windows 7 walmart.com NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID

I have an interesting issue...when I type in walmart.com I get an error in Google Chrome that says: Your connection is not private, which is not unusual, except it's for walmart.com

The machine is using Windows 7, yes it's old, but I'm not having this issue on other machines with Windows 7

I have tried the site in an incognito window, the issue persists.

The site will load correctly, without errors or issues in Firefox

The site also fails in Microsoft Edge, but that makes sense because it's also a Chromium-based browser.

Since it shows just fine in Firefox, I know it's not a filtering problem. I also temporarily uninstalled my antivirus program to see if it was somehow preventing the site from loading.

This machine is Windows 7 64-bit SP1, what I was reading was that Chrome and Edge validate their sites using an SSL list provided by Windows, Firefox uses it's own list. So, my idea is that list needs to be updated or something within the registry/OS has to be tweaked in order for the site to come up correctly.

I have checked the date and time and that is correct. I have also gone into the settings of Google Chrome and allowed insecure content, although I am thinking this is more of an OS-related issue since this is the only machine I have giving me these problems and I have other machines running the same version of Windows that work without issue.

I have removed/reinstalled Chrome and restored it to it's defaults, but that doesn't seem to do anything.

This machine had Windows 7 reloaded from scratch a few weeks ago, I tried to see if there were any new Windows updates, but it says this machine is up to date.

I know Chrome by default supports a certain version of TLS and I'm thinking that might have something to do with that, but I don't see a setting in Chrome anywhere to change that.

Any ideas on how I can fix this?

This is what it looks like in Google Chrome, when I click Advanced > Proceed to (unsafe)

Thanks,
Josh

3 Answers

Thanks for the tips...I found a solution!

After I read @Steffen Ulrich comment, that got me thinking...can I just copy these certs from a working Windows 7 machine?

So, I started searching and ran across:

I opened MMC on a working machine (one that opens Walmart successfully) and exported all my Trusted Root Certification Authorities Certificates as a .sst

Then, I opened MMC on the non-working machine (the one that had the error when I tried to open Walmart) and imported the .sst file I created

and bam! Just like that, the machine now loads Walmart successfully without any errors or issues.

Thanks for the help and suggestions! It's working!!

Hope this helps someone else!

Josh

"Support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020. If you are still using Windows 7, your PC may become more vulnerable to security risks."

The 100% correct answer: Update your OS.

The 100% wrong answer: Try to update the root certificate store using some rando internet article. But if you've got no other option, then try the first link, then the second. Then more rando Google search results. And if/when Windows 7 catches fire, your identity is stolen, or your company breached, then update the OS.

Had this problem.

For future users who have this issue, the solution is to install the root cert into the trusted root CA store and restart your browser. You don't need a working computer to do this, though that will also work, albeit with more steps. Here is how to do this with fewer steps and no powershell.

In the case of walmart.com the root certificate is here:

Specifically the R3 certificate in that list. Download that and install it in the Trusted Root CA folder (you have to select the folder manually, otherwise it seems to stick it in the 'personal' folder by default) you'll get a message to the effect of "OMG YOU SURE...?" Click yes.

Restart browser. Go back to the globalsign.com site, under the R3 cert you just installed click the "Does my browser trust this certificate?" link. You should see cert information instead of an error, assuming you installed the cert in the correct folder and also assuming nothing else in amiss with your certificate store. Walmart.com should now work.

Note that this will only work so long as Walmart uses the R3 cert from GlobalSign as their root. If some time passes and this advice no longer works then you need to view the walmart.com certificate in your browser, look at the certificate's details, specifically the trust chain, and see what the top level trusted root cert is. Then do the same thing as explained above for whatever new cert issuer they changed to and whatever new trusted root certificate they're using. Most cert issuers let you download their root certificate off their site. Just a matter of finding it.