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Earlier this year, Apple proposed a motion to reduce certificate lifespans, which Sectigo, the Google Chrome team, and Mozilla endorsed. This proposal would gradually reduce the lifespan of certificates over the next four years from its current 398-day lifespan to 47 days by March 2029.
Read the full BleepingComputer article here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ssl-certificates-lifespans-to-drop-to-47-days-by-2029/
You Should Know: Automating SSL Certificate Renewals
With shorter SSL certificate lifespans, automation becomes critical. Below are key commands, scripts, and tools to manage frequent renewals:
1. Certbot (Let’s Encrypt) Automation
Renew certificates automatically with Certbot:
sudo certbot renew --quiet --no-self-upgrade --post-hook "systemctl reload nginx"
Schedule a cron job for auto-renewal:
0 0 /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet --no-self-upgrade --post-hook "systemctl reload nginx"
2. OpenSSL Commands for Certificate Checks
Check certificate expiration:
openssl x509 -enddate -noout -in /path/to/certificate.pem
Verify a remote server’s SSL expiry:
echo | openssl s_client -servername example.com -connect example.com:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates
3. PowerShell (Windows) for Certificate Management
Check installed certificates:
Get-ChildItem -Path Cert:\LocalMachine\My | Select-Object NotAfter, Subject
Automate renewal via ACME (e.g., Posh-ACME):
Set-PAServer -DirectoryUrl 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory' New-PACertificate example.com -AcceptTOS -Contact [email protected]
4. Kubernetes & Cloud Automation
For Kubernetes, use cert-manager:
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1 kind: Certificate metadata: name: example-com spec: secretName: example-com-tls issuerRef: name: letsencrypt-prod dnsNames: - example.com
5. Monitoring SSL Expiry
Use Nagios or Zabbix to track expirations:
check_ssl_cert -H example.com -p 443 -w 30 -c 10
What Undercode Say
The shift to 47-day SSL certificates demands robust automation. Key takeaways:
– Linux admins must master certbot, openssl, and cron jobs.
– Windows admins should leverage PowerShell ACME modules.
– Cloud/K8s teams need `cert-manager` or equivalent.
– Monitoring tools like Nagios ensure no unexpected outages.
Expected Output:
Certificate expiration check: notAfter=Mar 15 09:00:00 2029 GMT
Further Reading:
References:
Reported By: Charlescrampton As – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
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