SSL Exception: error:1416F086:SSL routines:tls_process_server_certificate:certificate verify failed

[dtrupti22]

I am trying to send mail with ssl enable using below code and getting
SSL Exception: error:1416F086:SSL routines:tls_process_server_certificate:certificate verify failed error

	SecureSMTPClientSession session(mailhost, port);
	session.login();
	session.startTLS();
	if (!username.empty())
	{
		session.login(SMTPClientSession::AUTH_LOGIN, username, password);
	}
	session.sendMessage(message);
	session.close();

[matejk]

This is a configuration issue, not a POCO bug. The error certificate verify failed occurs because no CA certificates are loaded to verify the server's certificate.

Your code is missing SSL configuration. Compare with the sample in NetSSL_OpenSSL/samples/Mail/src/Mail.cpp:

#include "Poco/Net/SSLManager.h"
#include "Poco/Net/ConsoleCertificateHandler.h"

// 1. Initialize SSL
Poco::Net::initializeSSL();

// 2. Create certificate handler (handles verification failures)
SharedPtr<InvalidCertificateHandler> pCert = new ConsoleCertificateHandler(false);

// 3. Create context WITH CA certificates loaded
Context::Ptr pContext = new Context(
    Context::CLIENT_USE, 
    "",  // privateKeyFile
    "",  // certificateFile  
    "",  // caLocation (empty = use default)
    Context::VERIFY_RELAXED,
    9,    // verification depth
    true, // loadDefaultCAs - THIS IS KEY!
    "ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH");

// 4. Initialize SSL manager
SSLManager::instance().initializeClient(nullptr, pCert, pContext);

// 5. Now use SecureSMTPClientSession
SecureSMTPClientSession session(mailhost, port);
session.login();
session.startTLS(pContext);  // Pass the context!
// ...

Key points:

• Set loadDefaultCAs = true (7th parameter) to load system CA certificates
• Or provide path to CA certificates via caLocation parameter
• Pass the configured context to startTLS(pContext)

Alternative - if you want to skip verification (not recommended for production):

Context::Ptr pContext = new Context(Context::CLIENT_USE, "", "", "", Context::VERIFY_NONE);