“The remote certificate is invalid according to th

Question

I'm getting this error:

The remote certificate is invalid according to the validation procedure.

whenever I try to send e-mail using Gmail's SMTP server in my C# code. Can someone point me to the right direction for a solution to this problem?

The following is the stack trace...

at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendAuthResetSignal(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest, Exception exception)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessReceivedBlob(Byte[] buffer, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReadFrame(Byte[] buffer, Int32 readBytes, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReceiveBlob(Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessReceivedBlob(Byte[] buffer, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReadFrame(Byte[] buffer, Int32 readBytes, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReceiveBlob(Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessReceivedBlob(Byte[] buffer, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReadFrame(Byte[] buffer, Int32 readBytes, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReceiveBlob(Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessReceivedBlob(Byte[] buffer, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReadFrame(Byte[] buffer, Int32 readBytes, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReceiveBlob(Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessReceivedBlob(Byte[] buffer, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReadFrame(Byte[] buffer, Int32 readBytes, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartReceiveBlob(Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.CheckCompletionBeforeNextReceive(ProtocolToken message, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.StartSendBlob(Byte[] incoming, Int32 count, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ForceAuthentication(Boolean receiveFirst, Byte[] buffer, AsyncProtocolRequest asyncRequest)
at System.Net.Security.SslState.ProcessAuthentication(LazyAsyncResult lazyResult)
at System.Net.TlsStream.CallProcessAuthentication(Object state)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Net.TlsStream.ProcessAuthentication(LazyAsyncResult result)
at System.Net.TlsStream.Write(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
at System.Net.PooledStream.Write(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpConnection.Flush()
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpConnection.GetConnection(String host, Int32 port)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpTransport.GetConnection(String host, Int32 port)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.GetConnection()
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
at BulkEmail.frmemail.mailsending(String toaddress, String fromaddress, String fromname, String subject, String pwd, String attachements, String mailmessage, String htmlmessage, Int32 i, Int32 j, String replytoaddress)

Answer 1

I had the same error when i tried to send email using SmtpClient via proxy server (Usergate).

Verifies the certificate contained the address of the server, which is not equal to the address of the proxy server, hence the error. My solution: when an error occurs while checking the certificate, receive the certificate, export it and check.

public static bool RemoteServerCertificateValidationCallback(Object sender, X509Certificate certificate, X509Chain chain, SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
    {
        if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
            return true;

        // if got an cert auth error
        if (sslPolicyErrors != SslPolicyErrors.RemoteCertificateNameMismatch) return false;
        const string sertFileName = "smpthost.cer";

        // check if cert file exists
        if (File.Exists(sertFileName))
        {
            var actualCertificate = X509Certificate.CreateFromCertFile(sertFileName);
            return certificate.Equals(actualCertificate);
        }

        // export and check if cert not exists
        using (var file = File.Create(sertFileName))
        {
            var cert = certificate.Export(X509ContentType.Cert);
            file.Write(cert, 0, cert.Length);
        }
        var createdCertificate = X509Certificate.CreateFromCertFile(sertFileName);
        return certificate.Equals(createdCertificate);
    }

Full code of my email sender class:

public class EmailSender
{
    private readonly SmtpClient _smtpServer;
    private readonly MailAddress _fromAddress;

    public EmailSender()
    {
        ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = RemoteServerCertificateValidationCallback;
        _smtpServer = new SmtpClient();
    }

    public EmailSender(string smtpHost, int smtpPort, bool enableSsl, string userName, string password, string fromEmail, string fromName) : this()
    {
        _smtpServer.Host = smtpHost;
        _smtpServer.Port = smtpPort;
        _smtpServer.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
        _smtpServer.EnableSsl = enableSsl;
        _smtpServer.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(userName, password);

        _fromAddress = new MailAddress(fromEmail, fromName);
    }

    public bool Send(string address, string mailSubject, string htmlMessageBody,
        string fileName = null)
    {
        return Send(new List<MailAddress> { new MailAddress(address) }, mailSubject, htmlMessageBody, fileName);
    }

    public bool Send(List<MailAddress> addressList, string mailSubject, string htmlMessageBody,
        string fileName = null)
    {
        var mailMessage = new MailMessage();
        try
        {
            if (_fromAddress != null)
                mailMessage.From = _fromAddress;

            foreach (var addr in addressList)
                mailMessage.To.Add(addr);

            mailMessage.SubjectEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
            mailMessage.Subject = mailSubject;

            mailMessage.Body = htmlMessageBody;
            mailMessage.BodyEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
            mailMessage.IsBodyHtml = true;

            if ((fileName != null) && (System.IO.File.Exists(fileName)))
            {
                var attach = new Attachment(fileName, MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet);
                attach.ContentDisposition.CreationDate = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(fileName);
                attach.ContentDisposition.ModificationDate = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(fileName);
                attach.ContentDisposition.ReadDate = System.IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(fileName);
                mailMessage.Attachments.Add(attach);
            }
            _smtpServer.Send(mailMessage);
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            // TODO lor error
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    public static bool RemoteServerCertificateValidationCallback(Object sender, X509Certificate certificate, X509Chain chain, SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
    if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
        return true;

    // if got an cert auth error
    if (sslPolicyErrors != SslPolicyErrors.RemoteCertificateNameMismatch) return false;
    const string sertFileName = "smpthost.cer";

    // check if cert file exists
    if (File.Exists(sertFileName))
    {
        var actualCertificate = X509Certificate.CreateFromCertFile(sertFileName);
        return certificate.Equals(actualCertificate);
    }

    // export and check if cert not exists
    using (var file = File.Create(sertFileName))
    {
        var cert = certificate.Export(X509ContentType.Cert);
        file.Write(cert, 0, cert.Length);
    }
    var createdCertificate = X509Certificate.CreateFromCertFile(sertFileName);
    return certificate.Equals(createdCertificate);
}

}

Answer 2

There is an MSDN blog article on investigating this type of issues:

Troubleshooting ASP.NET – The remote certificate is invalid according to the validation procedure:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jpsanders/archive/2009/09/16/troubleshooting-asp-net-the-remote-certificate-is-invalid-according-to-the-validation-procedure.aspx

Answer 3

Warning: Do not use this in production code!

As a workaround, you can switch off certificate validation. Only ever do this to obtain confirmation that the error is being throw because of a bad certificate.

Call this method before you call smtpclient.Send():

    [Obsolete("Do not use this in Production code!!!",true)]
    static void NEVER_EAT_POISON_Disable_CertificateValidation()
    {
        // Disabling certificate validation can expose you to a man-in-the-middle attack
        // which may allow your encrypted message to be read by an attacker
        // https://stackoverflow.com/a/14907718/740639
        ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback =
            delegate (
                object s,
                X509Certificate certificate,
                X509Chain chain,
                SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors
            ) {
                return true;
            };
    }

Answer 4

You can improve the code to ask user that the certificate is not valid. Do you want to continue? As below:

ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = 
    new RemoteCertificateValidationCallback(ValidateServerCertificate);

And add a method like this:

public static bool ValidateServerCertificate(object sender,X509Certificate certificate,X509Chain chain,SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
    if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
        return true;
    else
    {
        if (System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("The server certificate is not valid.\nAccept?", "Certificate Validation", System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon.Question) == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Yes)
            return true;
        else
            return false;
    }
}

Answer 5

I had the exact same problem and figured out that by default the Mail Shield from Avast antivirus had the "Scan SSL connection" activated. Make sure to turn that off.

From my knowledge, Avast will "open" the mail, scan it for any viruses and then sign it using it's own certificate so the mail won't be signed by the gmail's certificate anymore which produces that error.

Solution 1:

• Turn off the SSL scans from your antivirus (or the entire mail shield).

Solution 2 (Should be the best security speaking):

• Get somehow the certificate used by the antivirus (Avast has an option to export it)
• Import it in your imap/pop/smtp client before connecting to gmail server.

Answer 6

In our case problem was caused by IIS server certificate. The certificate's subject was set to DNS name and users were trying to access web site by IP adress, so .NET certification validation failed. Problem disappeared when users started to use DNS name.

So you have to change your Provider URL to https://CertificateSubject/xxx/xxx.application