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cpp-httplib/docs-src/pages/en/cookbook/t02-cert-verification.md
2026-04-10 19:02:44 -04:00

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---
title: "T02. Control SSL Certificate Verification"
order: 43
status: "draft"
---
By default, an HTTPS client verifies the server certificate — it uses the OS root certificate store to check the chain and the hostname. Here are the APIs for changing that behavior.
## Specify a custom CA certificate
When connecting to a server whose certificate is signed by an internal CA, use `set_ca_cert_path()`.
```cpp
httplib::Client cli("https://internal.example.com");
cli.set_ca_cert_path("/etc/ssl/certs/internal-ca.pem");
auto res = cli.Get("/");
```
The first argument is the CA certificate file; the second is an optional CA directory. With the OpenSSL backend, you can also pass an `X509_STORE*` directly via `set_ca_cert_store()`.
## Disable certificate verification (not recommended)
For development servers or self-signed certificates, you can skip verification entirely.
```cpp
httplib::Client cli("https://self-signed.example.com");
cli.enable_server_certificate_verification(false);
auto res = cli.Get("/");
```
That's all it takes to disable chain verification.
> **Warning:** Disabling certificate verification removes protection against man-in-the-middle attacks. **Never do this in production.** If you find yourself needing it outside of dev/test, pause and make sure you're not doing something wrong.
## Disable hostname verification only
There's an in-between option: verify the certificate chain, but skip the hostname check. Useful when you need to reach a server whose cert CN/SAN doesn't match the request's hostname.
```cpp
cli.enable_server_hostname_verification(false);
```
The certificate itself is still validated, so this is safer than fully disabling verification — but still not recommended in production.
## Use the OS cert store as-is
On most Linux distributions, root certificates live in a single file like `/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt`. cpp-httplib reads the OS default store at startup, so for most servers you don't need to configure anything.
> The same APIs work on the mbedTLS and wolfSSL backends. For choosing between backends, see T01. Choosing Between OpenSSL, mbedTLS, and wolfSSL.
> For details on diagnosing failures, see C18. Handle SSL Errors.