Trammell Hudson
What happened at the end of 2025 to a hundred million Let's Encrypt certificates?
Mar 2 at 1:20pmWeb
Show threadCassandrichMar 2
@th Something's messed up with the data. I wonder if it's the number currently valid and those were old ones with excessive validity period finally expiring?
Show threadFritz AdalisMar 2
@th
At first I thought it might be https://letsencrypt.org/2025/05/14/ending-tls-client-authentication but the dates are nowhere close.
Ending TLS Client Authentication Certificate Support in 2026

Update March 16, 2026: Thanks to some timeline changes in the root program requirements, we have been able to push back the removal of the tlsclient profile slightly. If you are already using the tlsclient profile before May 13, 2026, now you will be able to continue to do so through July 8, 2026. Let’s Encrypt will no longer include the “TLS Client Authentication” Extended Key Usage (EKU) in our certificates beginning in 2026. Most users who use Let’s Encrypt to secure websites won’t be affected and won’t need to take any action. However, if you use Let’s Encrypt certificates as client certificates to authenticate to a server, this change may impact you.

Show threadEdvin MalinovskisMar 2
@th didn't they significantly reduce TTL on their certs around that time? Manual refresh ops didn't update their calendar reminders
Show threadAlex VolkovMar 2
@th someone gave up on their christmas project?
Show threadPoroCYon 🔜 Mar 2
@th they stopped sending email reminders about certs expiring, so some people forgot to renew them
Show threadMalvinMar 2
@th I am just guessing blindly, but does letsencrypt adhere to sanctions against (i.e. no longer provide certificates to users in) some countries? 🤔
Show threadRue MohrMar 4
@th nobody renewed?
Show threadFritz AdalisMar 4
@RueNahcMohr @th
Price doubled.
Show threadRue MohrMar 4
@FritzAdalis @th er, wasn't it free?
Show threadFritz AdalisMar 4
@RueNahcMohr @th
Yep.
Show threadRue MohrMar 4
@FritzAdalis @th if its not free now, thats more than twice the price... thats infinity X more...
Show threadFritz AdalisMar 4

@RueNahcMohr @th
No, still free. 2 x 0 = 0.

Sorry, my signal to noise ratio is suboptimal.

Show threadAdam PrestMar 21
@th AI generated website growth maybe? Non technical users publishing