iMac on Ventura - cannot access secure sites

[Rigo]

G'day folks,
Got called to troubleshoot wireless internet access not working.
It turned out the actual problem was a failure to access secure sites whether with Safari or Chrome.
Search turns up the page with the suggested links. Clicking to follow through to a https site fails to access the target page.
I've emptied caches, removed and re-installed Chrome, no help.
One strange thing I noticed whilst fiddling in Chrome, when the client opened Chrome on his iPhone, a new instance of Chrome with a cellular overlay appeared on the iMac taskbar as if a new window had been opened.
System is fully updated.
AVAST premium was installed, I removed that just in case, no help.
Any suggestions before I nuke n pave?

 

[nlinecomputers]

How does Safari behave on those sites?

 

[Rigo]

How does Safari behave on those sites?

Exactly same way

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like the certificate stack is damaged or missing. I know how to fix that on Windows but not on MacOS. Hey @Markverhyden any ideas?

 

[Rigo]

Sounds like the certificate stack is damaged or missing. I know how to fix that on Windows but not on MacOS. Hey @Markverhyden any ideas?

I vaguely remember Internet Explorer used to complain about Certificates and one could manually add sites to a whitelist, if that's what you're referring to. That kind of trouble has long gone.
I definitely wouldn't have a clue where to tweak such things in Mac OS.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Certificates I believe are stored in Keychain. Whitelisting is not a solution. Without proper certificates you have no encryption on HTTPS. You also will not be able to download updates for the MacOS. If you can't fix the stack you will have to reinstall the OS.

 

[Rigo]

What about the odd real-time sync behaviour in Chrome between the iMac and the iPhone? Almost like mirroring?
I didn't observe it in Safari as he exclusively uses Chrome.

 

[HCHTech]

Not that they would admit to anything, but what happened right before it stopped working? Do you get the same behavior when using your cellphone as a hotspot instead of their wifi?

 

[Markverhyden]

What about the odd real-time sync behaviour in Chrome between the iMac and the iPhone? Almost like mirroring?
I didn't observe it in Safari as he exclusively uses Chrome.

That sounds like Handoff. On the iPhone got to Settings>General>AirPlay & Handoff>turn off Handoff.

Are you sure it's only https? A lot of time even if you specify http the website itself will force https. Try http://www.httpvshttps.com/, it'll only load http.

One thing to try is create a new network location. Go to System Preferences>Network>unlock the lock in the lower left corner (need account password)>click on Location in upper middle>Edit Location>add using the + in the lower left typing in new name>Done. Restart and go back into network locations to see if the new one is selected then try https.

 

[JoelM]

Not that they would admit to anything, but what happened right before it stopped working? Do you get the same behavior when using your cellphone as a hotspot instead of their wifi?

I would recommend trying to hotspot and see if the behovior is the same. Also, if you have a laptop yourself connect it to their wifi and see if you get the same results from your computer.
A couple of months ago I had a very strange situaion with a client on Spectrum cable internet. Internet was fine until a couple of days before. The client only had one comptuer on the network. Some websites would work and others would not work with a similar screen as what the OP shows. I hooked up my laptop expecting to have not issues at all and supprise to me I had exactly the same issues with my laptop connected to their network. I started looking and tried to check their WAN ip address and found they were only being issued an IPv6 address by Spectrum. They were not getting an IPv4 address. I called Spectrum tech support and informed them there was an issue with their configuration. It took some reasoning to get Spectrum to look at the issue as they at first were convinced everyting was ok. Once they agreed there was an issue it took them about 15 minutes to change something on their end.
Once they said it was fixed I rebooted the cable modem and everything was working fine. I have not experienced anything like that before and was convinced the issue was with the computer. I'm so glad I tried my computer before wiping and reloading the machine.

 

[GTP]

AVAST premium was installed, I removed that just in case

You cant just simply "uninstall" Avast. Avast Beacon will still be there along with a ton of other background rubbish.
I'd hazard a guess that it's Avast causing the problem to begin with.

There are several third party uninstallers that can help remove Avast but the only complete way is a N & P.

 

[Rigo]

Not that they would admit to anything, but what happened right before it stopped working? Do you get the same behavior when using your cellphone as a hotspot instead of their wifi?

He did admit that he tried all sort of things when he couldn't access sites following the change of service provider and gateway.
I had my MacBook and that didn't have any problems accessing banking sites. That kind of confirmed to me that the problem was peculiar to his computer.
He agreed to let me take it back with me to try to fix and return it.
Same problem back at my place through my internet service.

 

[Rigo]

Handoff

Thanks for the tip.
Don't have an iPhone so haven't heard of it. I'll check it out when back to see him.

 

[Rigo]

I would recommend trying to hotspot and see if the behovior is the same. Also, if you have a laptop yourself connect it to their wifi and see if you get the same results from your computer.
A couple of months ago I had a very strange situaion with a client on Spectrum cable internet. Internet was fine until a couple of days before. The client only had one comptuer on the network. Some websites would work and others would not work with a similar screen as what the OP shows. I hooked up my laptop expecting to have not issues at all and supprise to me I had exactly the same issues with my laptop connected to their network. I started looking and tried to check their WAN ip address and found they were only being issued an IPv6 address by Spectrum. They were not getting an IPv4 address. I called Spectrum tech support and informed them there was an issue with their configuration. It took some reasoning to get Spectrum to look at the issue as they at first were convinced everyting was ok. Once they agreed there was an issue it took them about 15 minutes to change something on their end.
Once they said it was fixed I rebooted the cable modem and everything was working fine. I have not experienced anything like that before and was convinced the issue was with the computer. I'm so glad I tried my computer before wiping and reloading the machine.

I didn't try hotspotting but as I said the problem repeated at my place through my internet service. And my laptop didn't experience the problem.

 

[Rigo]

You cant just simply "uninstall" Avast. Avast Beacon will still be there along with a ton of other background rubbish.
I'd hazard a guess that it's Avast causing the problem to begin with.

There are several third party uninstallers that can help remove Avast but the only complete way is a N & P.

Point taken about trying to scrub off Avast.
Not familiar enough with the Mac eco system to try doing that.
Although the Windows world has all sort of utilities for deep hunting and killing remnants of apps, not so sure what would be available in the Mac empire.

 

[Markverhyden]

He did admit that he tried all sort of things when he couldn't access sites following the change of service provider and gateway.
I had my MacBook and that didn't have any problems accessing banking sites. That kind of confirmed to me that the problem was peculiar to his computer.
He agreed to let me take it back with me to try to fix and return it.
Same problem back at my place through my internet service.

Did you try creating a new Network location as I described above?

 

[Rigo]

Did you try creating a new Network location as I described above?

Thanks Markverhyden,
Can now post again
Yeah, that worked with the new network location.
The path to getting there is a little different now on Ventura but I was able to work my way through.
Don't know whether there is an equivalent of that process in Windows.
Mind explaining a little how this trick works please?
How do I go about clearing whatever is blocking the default network to ensure it doesn't accidentally revert back to normal and bring the issue back? This is kind of like a workaround rather than a fix?

 

[Rigo]

Thanks Markverhyden,
Can now post again
Yeah, that worked with the new network location.
The path to getting there is a little different now on Ventura but I was able to work my way through.
Don't know whether there is an equivalent of that process in Windows.
Mind explaining a little how this trick works please?
How do I go about clearing whatever is blocking the default network to ensure it doesn't accidentally revert back to normal and bring the issue back? This is kind of like a workaround rather than a fix?

Found the explanations here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202480

 

[Markverhyden]

It isn't a work around per se. Something corrupted that Automatic profile so adding a new one just created one from scratch with the defaults. Make sure to delete the Automatic one so they don't accidentally flip back to it. You didn't mention the OS version so I just used what's on my iMac. But yes, Apple went and re-arranged the furniture in Ventura in System Preferences. And its' really annoying but in some ways is a little better.

 

[Rigo]

didn't mention the OS version

It's in the title of the post, but you're forgiven since you still gave me the correct fix
Yes, I'll delete the original one indeed.
I'll check his iPhone settings when I see him next as he was annoyed that the computer and phone seemed connected. I'll report when done.
Thanks again for your help