Wordpress Cron Error "SSL certificate: unable to get local issuer certificate"

Question

I am encountering an error on my Wordpress install with the wp-cron.php not being able to be executed by Wordpress. The debugging tool "Crontrol" reports the error "SSL certificate: unable to get local issuer certificate".

WGET is not able to access the wp-cron.php most likely due to the SSL problem. I need the wp-cron to run for newsletter tools etc.

It is very strange that the same error occurs on other WP installs on the same server which do not even have an SSL certificate or even use HTTPS. The error remains the same.

I have already tried to source the problem with other Wordpress plug ins but no luck. Since the message is the same independent of the site or I guess the problem is rooted somewhere else than Wordpress.

Any ideas are gladly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

What version of Wordpress are you running? If its prior to version 3.7 the solution might be to add these lines at the very end of your wp-config.php:

add_filter('https_ssl_verify', '__return_false');

add_filter('https_local_ssl_verify', '__return_false');

I made a small guide here:

http://codeontrack.com/fix-wordpress-and-plugins-fail-on-update-ssl-certificate-problem-unable-to-get-local-issuer-certificate/