SSL/TLS certificates are a cornerstone of modern web security. However, failures in certificate management can lead to unexpected outages and significant business losses. According to Gartner research, the average cost of certificate-related outages can exceed 300,000 TRY per hour for organizations.

In this article, we explore the most common causes of SSL certificate outages and how modern certificate management platforms can help prevent them.

1. Expired Certificates: The Most Common Cause of Outages

SSL certificates have a defined validity period. Once that period expires, websites or applications become inaccessible to users. Browsers display warnings such as “Your connection is not private,” and most users immediately abandon the site.

Why does this happen so often?

• Enterprise environments may contain hundreds or even thousands of certificates
• Manual tracking methods (Excel spreadsheets, email reminders) are insufficient
• Communication gaps occur during renewal processes
• Certificates owned by different departments are easily overlooked

Modern solution approach

Using automated certificate monitoring and proactive alerting systems is no longer optional—it is essential. Enterprise certificate management platforms provide:

• Centralized inventory management to view all certificates in one place
• Automated discovery to identify all certificates across the network
• Multi-channel alerts sent 90, 60, 30, and 15 days before expiration
• Dashboard visualizations to prioritize critical certificates

SecTrail Certificate Manager can manage thousands of nodes simultaneously and continuously monitor certificate status, notifying teams well in advance of potential issues.

2. Loss of Visibility in Distributed Environments

In modern enterprise infrastructures, certificates are not limited to web servers. They are used across load balancers, API gateways, microservices, IoT devices, and many other components.

Common challenges

• Certificate tracking becomes difficult across systems managed by different teams
• Lack of centralized visibility into certificate inventory
• Uncertainty about where specific certificates are deployed
• Inability to classify certificates based on attributes

Solution: Automated discovery and centralized inventory

SecTrail CM automatically scans your infrastructure to discover all certificates:

• Network-based scanning to detect active certificates
• Agentless connections to servers and devices for inventory creation
• Automatic synchronization to keep inventories up to date
• Tagging and categorization for structured certificate management

This enables organizations to move from reactive, crisis-driven management to proactive automation.

3. Misconfigured Certificates

Even when a certificate is technically valid, misconfigurations can still cause outages.

Common configuration issues

• Incomplete certificate chain: Missing intermediate certificates cause browsers and devices to reject trust
• Incorrect domain matching: Certificates issued for example.com used for www.example.com or api.example.com
• SNI (Server Name Indication) issues: Misconfigurations when hosting multiple domains on the same IP
• Outdated TLS versions: TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are no longer considered secure and are rejected by modern browsers

Prevention strategy

SecTrail CM automatically detects configuration issues through:

• Continuous monitoring with real-time validation
• Certificate chain verification
• TLS/SSL protocol version alerts
• Domain and SAN (Subject Alternative Name) validation

4. Untrusted or Revoked Certificates

In some cases, users may see security warnings even when certificates appear valid, or certificates may need to be revoked due to security incidents.

Common causes

• Use of self-signed certificates
• Certificate Authority (CA) removal from trust stores
• Compromised private keys
• Organizational changes (company acquisitions, domain transfers)

Enterprise CA as a solution

Reducing dependency on external CAs for internal systems and development environments is critical. With an internal Certificate Authority:

• Internal certificates can be securely issued
• Certificates can be rapidly generated for development and testing
• Secure communication between internal systems is ensured
• Certificate costs are reduced

SecTrail CM provides internal CA management, enabling centralized control over enterprise certificate infrastructure.

5. Renewal Failures and Manual Operational Overhead

As long as certificate renewals rely on manual processes, they remain prone to human error.

Risk points in the renewal process

• Renewal requests not submitted on time
• Delays in domain validation (DV)
• CSR (Certificate Signing Request) creation and approval issues
• Timing errors when replacing old certificates with new ones
• Forgotten updates on load balancers, CDNs, or reverse proxies

Automation-driven solution

SecTrail CM significantly reduces operational overhead by automating repetitive tasks:

• Automatic CSR generation and certificate requests
• Approval workflows for request and validation processes
• Automated deployment of certificates to target systems
• Automatic renewal before certificates expire

With workflow automation, certificate requests, approvals, and deployments can be fully automated, minimizing human intervention.

6. Synchronization Issues in Load Balancer and Multi-Server Environments

In applications running across multiple servers, ensuring certificate updates are consistently deployed is critical.

Common issues

• Certificates updated on one server but forgotten on others
• Load balancer certificates not updated
• Synchronization problems in high-availability (HA) environments
• Missed updates on CDN or WAF layers

Integration-based solution

SecTrail CM integrates with widely used infrastructure components:

• Automated certificate deployment and Force Sync support in HA environments via integrations with F5 BIG-IP, Nginx, Tomcat, IIS, Apache, NetScaler, Palo Alto, FortiWeb, and more
• HashiCorp Vault integration for automated certificate requests and management through PKI Engine
• Secure, agentless device connections for certificate installation
• Virtual server updates and configuration synchronization

These integrations ensure certificate updates are consistently and automatically applied across the entire infrastructure.

7. Wildcard and SAN Certificate Complexity

Organizations managing many subdomains often struggle to track certificate coverage.

Common challenges

• Failure to notice that wildcard certificates (*.example.com) do not cover newly added subdomains
• Domains deployed without being included in SAN lists
• Difficulty tracking where multiple wildcard certificates are used

Centralized inventory solution

With certificate inventory capabilities, organizations can:

• See which domains each certificate covers
• Categorize certificates (wildcard, SAN, single-domain)
• Track certificate deployment locations
• Monitor certificate authorities (CAs)

8. Authorization and Security Risks

Certificate management involves sensitive cryptographic materials such as private keys. Unauthorized access can create severe security risks.

Risk scenarios

• All users having access to all certificates
• Private keys shared via insecure channels
• Access not revoked for former employees
• Authorization conflicts across departments

Secure management with RBAC

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) enables:

• User authorization based on roles
• Access restrictions for certificate groups
• Full audit logging of all actions
• Secure storage and management of private keys

The Importance of Proactive Certificate Management

SSL certificate outages can damage brand reputation, erode customer trust, and cause financial losses. With the right tools and processes, these risks can be significantly reduced.

An effective certificate management strategy should include:

• Automated discovery of all certificates
• Centralized inventory for full visibility
• Continuous monitoring of certificate status
• Proactive alerting and early warnings
• Automated renewal and deployment
• Workflow-driven approval processes
• System integrations for infrastructure consistency
• RBAC for secure access control

SecTrail Certificate Manager brings all these capabilities together in a single solution, fully automating the digital certificate lifecycle from end to end. Organizations relying on spreadsheets and email reminders can transition from reactive management to proactive automation—reducing operational overhead and preventing unexpected service outages.

Conclusion

SSL certificate outages are typically preventable. By moving away from manual tracking and adopting modern certificate management platforms, organizations can:

• Automate repetitive manual tasks
• Achieve complete visibility into certificate inventories
• Simplify operations during digital transformation
• Prevent critical service disruptions

Now is the time to review and modernize your certificate management strategy. Remember: responding after a certificate outage occurs is far more costly than taking proactive preventive measures.
For more information, contact us.