{"id":3242,"date":"2026-03-26T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/?p=3242"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:30:28","slug":"why-is-my-ssl-certificate-valid-for-only-6-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/security\/why-is-my-ssl-certificate-valid-for-only-6-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is my SSL certificate valid for only 6 months?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Customers may notice that newly issued SSL certificates now have a validity of around <strong>6 months (~199 days)<\/strong> instead of the earlier 1-year period. This is expected and part of an industry-wide change.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What changed<\/h2>\n<p>The maximum validity of SSL\/TLS certificates has been reduced as per new global standards set by the CA\/Browser Forum.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Earlier maximum validity: <strong>398 days (~1 year)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Current maximum validity (2026 onwards): <strong>~199 days (~6 months)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All major Certificate Authorities, including DigiCert, have implemented this change.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Why are SSL certificates now shorter<\/h2>\n<p>This change improves overall internet security by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allowing faster replacement of compromised certificates<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring more frequent validation of domain ownership<\/li>\n<li>Reducing risks from outdated or stale certificate data<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Shorter certificate lifetimes help keep encryption standards current and trustworthy.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Does this affect your SSL Plan<\/h2>\n<p>No, your SSL plan validity has <strong>not changed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you purchased a <strong>1-year or multi-year SSL certificate<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your plan remains valid for the full duration<\/li>\n<li>Your certificate will be <strong>reissued periodically (approximately every 6 months)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>There is <strong>no additional cost<\/strong> for reissuance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Important: This is a <strong>reissue<\/strong>, not a renewal. You are not required to repurchase your SSL.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Renewal vs Reissuance<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Term<\/th>\n<th>Meaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Renewal<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Extending your SSL plan after it expires (paid action)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Reissuance<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Replacing your certificate within your active plan (free, required due to shorter validity)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What you need to do<\/h2>\n<p>To ensure uninterrupted SSL protection:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep your <strong>domain validation method active<\/strong> (Email \/ DNS \/ HTTP)<\/li>\n<li>Allow <strong>timely reissuance<\/strong> when required<\/li>\n<li>Ensure your <strong>contact email addresses are valid and monitored<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For most customers using managed hosting or automation, reissuance happens seamlessly.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Future changes<\/h2>\n<p>SSL certificate lifetimes will continue to decrease in phases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2026 ? ~200 days<\/li>\n<li>2027 ? ~100 days<\/li>\n<li>2029 ? ~47 days<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This shift emphasizes the importance of automation (e.g., auto-reissuance tools or ACME clients).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Need help<\/h2>\n<p>If you need assistance with SSL reissuance or validation methods, please contact our support team.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>6-month SSL validity is <strong>normal and expected &#8211; This will progressively reduce further<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This is an <strong>industry-wide change<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Your SSL plan duration <strong>remains unchanged<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Certificates are <strong>reissued, not renewed<\/strong>, during the plan period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Customers may notice that newly issued SSL certificates now have a validity of around 6 months (~199 days) instead of the earlier 1-year period. This is expected and part of an industry-wide change. What changed The maximum validity of SSL\/TLS certificates has been reduced as per new global standards set by the CA\/Browser Forum. Earlier [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3242"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3247,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242\/revisions\/3247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nettigritty.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}