DigiCert: Underscores - Ericsson

This case concerns DigiCert certificates containing underscore characters that browsers raised as an issue via CA/Browser Forum discussions. DigiCert stated it ceased issuing underscore characters on October 1, 2018 and notified customers on October 2, 2018, with some customers not being notified due to “bad data.” DigiCert reported that CAB Forum discussions led it to understand the certificates may require revocation, and that customers later engaged because they could not meet the revocation timeline. In response, DigiCert gathered data on impacted certificates and worked through communications and internal advisories, including posting to Mozilla about concerns with a ballot. The thread includes a later update from DigiCert’s assigned contact stating that all remaining underscore certificates for the Ericsson customer were revoked as of 30-April-2019. The bug is marked RESOLVED with resolution FIXED.

1. 2018-10-01 DigiCert ceased issuing underscore characters.
2. 2018-10-02 DigiCert notified customers that browsers were raising an issue with underscores.
3. 2018-11-09 Voting period ended for a CAB Forum ballot indicating a requirement to revoke the certificates.
4. 2019-04-30 DigiCert revoked all remaining underscore certificates for the Ericsson customer.

1. 2018-12-28 DigiCert — Opened the bug with a detailed timeline describing how DigiCert became aware of the underscore issue, its issuance stop and customer communications, and its revocation-related planning.
2. 2019-01-04 Community commenter — Asked for more detail on mistakes/process and questioned whether negotiations and change windows could have allowed revocation on time, and requested more data supporting DigiCert’s revocation decision.
3. 2019-01-08 DigiCert — Stated that, based on forum conversation and Google’s instruction, there is no exception or extension and that all CAs are expected to revoke on the required date.
4. 2019-01-09 DigiCert — Said there was a miscommunication about the intent of discussions and indicated an update would follow, asking to ignore the prior post.
5. 2019-01-17 Community commenter — Requested confirmation that an incident occurred and that affected certificate details were accurate.
6. 2019-05-01 DigiCert — Updated that all remaining underscore certificates for the Ericsson customer were revoked as of 30-April-2019.