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496
SSL Certificate Required
Example HTTP Response
HTTP Response
HTTP/1.1 496 SSL Certificate Required
Content-Type: text/html
<html><body>A client certificate is required</body></html>Common Causes
- nginx configured with ssl_verify_client on
- Client did not send a certificate during TLS handshake
- Client certificate authentication required but not provided
- Missing client certificate in mutual TLS (mTLS) setup
Technical Details
What does this mean?
Where's your hall pass? This server requires a client certificate to enter, but you showed up empty-handed. No ticket, no entry!
Technical Definition
The nginx server requires a client SSL certificate, but the client did not provide one during the SSL/TLS handshake.
Code Snippets
Ready-to-use code for returning this HTTP status in your application:
Node.js
// Express.js
app.get('/example', (req, res) => {
res.status(496).json({
error: 'SSL Certificate Required',
message: 'Your error message here'
});
});
// Native HTTP
const http = require('http');
http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(496, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
error: 'SSL Certificate Required',
message: 'Your error message here'
}));
}).listen(3000);Related Status Codes