An ERR SSL VERSION OR Cipher Mismatch Error message appears when a browser is unable to create an encrypted connection with a website. This particular error message appears frequently.

The mistake might happen in any web browser, including Firefox, Chrome, and Edge from Microsoft.

When a user tries to access your site through an encrypted connection (such as one established via SSL or HTTPS), certain precautions are taken to ensure that the connection is established securely. The following are examples of these steps:

• Decryption
• The TLS SSL handshake
• An authentication method where the certificate authority examines the certificate and then verifies the authenticity of the user (CA)

If any step in the above process does not go as planned, the ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH issue may appear.

What causes err_ssl_version_or_cipher_mismatch?

The ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH error message only appears on websites that employ HTTPS encryption and SSL certificates to secure access and the flow of information. Only sites that employ these security measures will display this error message.

This error message may drive you bonkers. When you visit one of these sites, you should see a lock in the address bar.

Another prevalent cause of the ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH error is the user’s reliance on a very old web browser or operating system. This is one of the most typical reasons for the error.

Let’s examine the actual name of the mistake to learn more about it:

• SSL has existed for quite some time, and in that time it has seen many different implementations.
• To decipher a message, one needs a set of rules, instructions, or algorithms known as a cipher. You can use these to keep anything secret or to encrypt data.
• The hope is that a safe channel will be established.

This makes it easy to identify the origin of an error when it occurs. Either you and the website aren’t utilizing the same encryption, which prevents a secure connection, or the SSL version is incompatible.

SSL cannot create a secure connection if the versions do not coincide. Both of these scenarios are straightforward to manage.

How To Fix the ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH Error?

Let’s examine the root issues and figure out how to address each one.

Server Issues

To determine whether or not the issue was caused by the server, you should check the following:

Make that the SSL certificate is legitimate.

Scanning your web server’s SSL/TLS configuration only takes a few minutes; in that time, you can verify that your SSL certificate is valid and was issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). The SSL certificate checker will tell you if the certificate is valid and if the CA that issued it is trustworthy.

Qualys SSL Labs can verify whether or not your SSL certificate is still active.

• Seek out the “Test your server” button on the webpage.
• Simply enter your hostname in the box and press the enter key to proceed.

After a moment, details about your SSL certificate will load, allowing you to verify that everything is in order.

We advise you to switch to a certificate issued by a reputable CA in case your current SSL certificate turns out to be flawed.

The Name on the Certificate Was Inconsistent with the One on the Passport

Verify the name on the certificate matches the one on file. Importantly, you should verify that the domain name and the name on the certificate are the same. The following are additional SSL labs-identified sources of mismatch:

• Due to limitations in the content delivery technology used, this website does not implement SSL encryption.
• Despite sharing an IP with another website, the offending website in question does not employ SSL encryption.
• The domain name still resolves to the old IP address, which is now used by a different website, even though access to the original site has been temporarily disabled.

Chrome’s DevTools can be used as an example because it has a feature that checks for certificate name mismatches. To accomplish this, please refer to the following instructions:

• You can right-click the link to download the file.
• The option to View Certificate can be found in the Inspect menu, under the Security subheading.

All relevant details about the certificate will be shown. The certificate is invalidated whenever there is a disagreement between the two data sources.

When this error occurs, Chrome won’t let you into its developer tools.

An update to the newest version of TLS is required.

Most hosting companies will utilize TLS 1.2 or later regardless of whether their customers are using an older, unsupported version of TLS or not. The reason for this is that TLS is built to work with older protocols without any issues.

Since some users may be using an older OS that continues to support the previous version of TLS, it is important to check both the version of TLS and the backward compatibility.

By checking the server test results in your SSL labs, you can ensure that you are using the most recent stable version of TLS. Just below the site quality rating, you’ll see the TLS version that your site supports.

How to Avoid ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH Error

Try reading up on the RC4 Cipher Suite.

The removal of the RC4 cipher suite in Chrome 48 is mentioned in the official Google documentation for the ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH problem. While this is rare, it is possible in large enterprise deployments that require RC4.

Why? because larger and more sophisticated combinations make the entire process more time-consuming.

Turning off RC4 is recommended by Google and Microsoft security researchers, among others. As a result, a unique cipher suite must be enabled in the server’s settings.

Put to Use a Unique OS for Your Computer

When browsers discontinue supporting earlier versions of operating systems, technologies like TLS 1.3 and the most current encryption suites become incompatible.

The most up-to-date SSL certificates will suddenly malfunction in a certain way. Chrome stopped being compatible with Windows XP in 2015. This happened in the year 2015. We usually recommend updating to the most recent version of an operating system if at all possible, and recent versions of both Windows and Mac OS X are excellent instances of such modern updates.

It has been decided to temporarily disable the antivirus software.

If, after trying everything else that we have suggested, you are still getting the ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH error, the final step that you should take is to check to see if you have an antivirus program open on your computer.

This should be done regardless of whether or not you are still getting the error. You may also give the option of temporarily disabling it a shot. By inserting their certificates between your browser and the internet, certain antivirus programs provide an additional layer of defense for your computer.

The Closing Note

Having SSL issues, especially on one’s site, is quite infuriating. We’ve heard about the SSL problem you were having earlier today, and we hope this advice has helped clear things up for you.

If you’ve encountered the ERR SSL VERSION OR CIPHER MISMATCH problem and are unsure of what to do, please leave a comment below. As a result, we’ll be able to help you more effectively.