FIX: FrontPage 98 Clients and Visual InterDev Cannot Open Web Site Through SSL (267999)

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx

SYMPTOMS

When you use Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 or Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 with the FrontPage Server Extensions and with a Verisign or Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) certificate, attempting to open Web sites in the FrontPage 98 client or Visual InterDev through HTTPS may fail. The root certificate authority is not recognized as a trusted authority, and therefore, the connection is not allowed. However, if the Web site is viewed in a browser, such as Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 or later, you can view the Web site without problems.

CAUSE

The FrontPage 98 client and Visual InterDev only support a few select Certificate Authorities. The FrontPage 98 client and Visual InterDev only support 40-bit encryption. Verisign has changed their original 40-bit certificate, which causes FrontPage 98 and Visual InterDev to not recognize the Root CA as a trusted authority.

RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

File Name    Size     Date       Time     Version     Platform
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fp30wec.dll  413,968  12/6/2000  3:22 PM  3.0.2.4806  x86

MORE INFORMATION

For another way to resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Create a new certificate request on the IIS 4.0 or 5.0 server.
Submit the request to Verisign, and make sure that "IBM" is selected as the server type, as opposed to "Microsoft" (contact Verisign for help obtaining this certificate).
Make sure that the previous certificate has been removed from the Key Manager, and make sure to "Commit All Changes" afterwards.
When the new certificate has been received from Verisign, install the certificate to the appropriate Web site.
In a browser, test HTTPS access. In FrontPage 98 or Visual InterDev, test HTTPS access again.

This resolution should provide access to the Web site from FrontPage 98 and Visual InterDev through HTTPS.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

238662 INFO: Using Visual InterDev and Secure Sockets Layer

194672 FP98: "Socket Code 4" Error Connecting to Server Using SSL