The eMudhra certificate issue on macOS: what to check

Gordon Beeming· 6 November 2026 · 1 min read

The issue

Compromised eMudhra certificates are a reminder that your browser and your terminal do not necessarily trust the same certificates. Apple has blocked the affected certificates in its security frameworks, but command-line tools using /etc/ssl/cert.pem can still be exposed.

References

Apple’s guidance: https://support.apple.com/en-us/149555

The macOS impact and mitigation details: https://emudhra.we-have-a-problem.com/apple.html

How to fix it

Check which certificate store your tools actually use. For tools relying on /etc/ssl/cert.pem, back up that file first, then follow the linked mitigation to remove emSign ECC Root CA - G3. Covering the cross-signed trust path also requires removing AAA Certificate Services, which can break unrelated sites. Test the services you depend on before rolling that change out.

Recheck after macOS updates: an update can restore the bundle and undo your manual changes. Do not disable TLS verification to work around certificate errors.

Fancy a video?

Low Level walks through the issue below.