Title: Path to certificate
Last modified: May 20, 2026

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# Path to certificate

 *  [socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/)
 * (@socialink)
 * [1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/)
 * We have one other question here – we’ve uploaded the x509 Certificate Path (public
   key) to our WP base path (so its at [https://oursite.org/sso-signing.pem](https://oursite.org/sso-signing.pem).
   However we keep getting errors on the wp-login page that indicate ‘idp_cert_or_fingerprint_not_found_and_required’.
   We’ve tried the following in the x509 Certificate Path field:
 * ABSPATH/sso-signing.pem
 * ABSPATH . ‘sso-signing.pem’
 * Simply ABSPATH
 * All seem to generate the same error. We’ve even tried a URL there ([https://publicuniversity.org/sso-signing.phm](https://publicuniversity.org/sso-signing.phm)).
   Can you assist please with the correct format? Thanks.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Plugin Contributor [Anais Pantheor](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anaispantheor/)
 * (@anaispantheor)
 * [1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18913871)
 * Hi [@socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/),
 * The “x509 Certificate” field expects the certificate content (the base64-encoded
   string), not a file path or URL.
 * Open your sso-signing.pem file in a text editor — it will look something like
   this:
 * `-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
   MIIDpDCCAoygAwIBAgIGAX…(many lines of base64 text)…-----
   END CERTIFICATE-----
 * Copy everything between the BEGIN and END lines (without those lines themselves)
   and paste that into the x509 Certificate field.
 * Your IdP (Duo) should also provide this certificate in their SAML metadata or
   admin panel if you don’t have the file handy.
 * Also, version 2.3.2 has been released with security fixes for vulnerabilities
   in the robrichards/xmlseclibs and onelogin/php-saml dependencies. 
   Please update
   when you get a chance.Hope this helps!
 *  Thread Starter [socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/)
 * (@socialink)
 * [1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18913931)
 * Thanks all! So to confirm, the *x509 Certificate Path* field expects the content
   of the cert, or the field titled Certificate Fingerprint has that key content,
   and leave Path empty? Please see screenshot:
 * [https://i.postimg.cc/Dy4vbFNK/image.png](https://i.postimg.cc/Dy4vbFNK/image.png)
 * When I put it into the Cert Fingerprint field (not the Path field) per your instructions(
   eg between the BEGIN and END key), and I do the login (correctly) I get the following
   error:
 * [https://i.postimg.cc/Bv8YsSQX/image.png](https://i.postimg.cc/Bv8YsSQX/image.png)
 *  Thread Starter [socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/)
 * (@socialink)
 * [3 weeks, 6 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18919515)
 * Hi friends just wanted to follow up to see if there was a solution to this very
   last question. Thank you again for all your assistance on this plugin so far.
 *  Plugin Contributor [Anais Pantheor](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anaispantheor/)
 * (@anaispantheor)
 * [3 weeks, 5 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18920778)
 * Hi [@socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/),
 * Following up — apologies for the earlier misdirection. I re-read your original
   message and your first attempt (ABSPATH/sso-signing.pem) was actually the correct
   approach.
 * If that’s still giving you the idp_cert_or_fingerprint_not_found_and_required
   error, the issue is likely that the .pem file isn’t in the directory where WordPress
   expects it. ABSPATH resolves to the WordPress installation root (the folder containing
   wp-config.php), which may not be the same as your web server’s document root.
 * Could you confirm:
    - Where exactly on the server the sso-signing.pem file is located?
    - Where wp-config.php lives on the server? The file needs to be in the same 
      directory as wp-config.php for ABSPATH/sso-signing.pem to resolve correctly.
 *  Thread Starter [socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/)
 * (@socialink)
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18921083)
 * Hi, thank you for your response! I went back and actually used ABSPATH/sso-signing.
   pem (without the quotes) and it worked! Thank you again for the support for this
   free plugin. I have some customization to do and other mapping tweaks (i needed
   to use the forma Name starting with urn:oid instead of the FriendlyName) but 
   its working.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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 * 6 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [socialink](https://wordpress.org/support/users/socialink/)
 * Last activity: [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/path-to-certificate/#post-18921083)
 * Status: not resolved