Python 2.7.11 [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED]

Question

What I am trying to do is open an xml.zip file from a website for an intro to Python project. I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with my code, but when I go to run the program, I get:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/Chris/Documents/clientDownloadFile-Handout.py", line 16, in <module>
    u = urllib2.urlopen("https://nvd.nist.gov/download/nvdcve-Recent.xml.zip")
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 154, in urlopen
    return opener.open(url, data, timeout)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 431, in open
    response = self._open(req, data)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 449, in _open
    '_open', req)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 409, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 1240, in https_open
    context=self._context)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 1197, in do_open
    raise URLError(err)
URLError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590)>

This is my code:

import urllib2

u=urllib2.urlopen("https://nvd.nist.gov/download/nvdcveRecent.xml.zip")

localFile = open('nvd.xml.zip', 'wb')
localFile.write(u.read())
localFile.close()

I've done some research, including on this site. I've tried some modifications like 'import ssl' and other 'insecure' workarounds to this problem, to no avail. I am wondering if anyone else (possibly Mac OS X El Capitan users) has encountered this, and if there is a more secure way around this?

Have you tried what is suggested here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27835619/ssl-certificate-verify-failed-error? — Padraic Cunningham, Jan 23 '16 at 21:37
@PadraicCunningham yes, that was the first thing I tried. When tried that method, my program ran without producing any errors, but it also didn't produce the file. Just blank space — Christopher Demetrius, Jan 23 '16 at 21:39
You got nothing returned from read when you tried to bypass? — Padraic Cunningham, Jan 23 '16 at 21:44
yes, no errors to report, but definitely not the document I was trying to open — Christopher Demetrius, Jan 23 '16 at 21:48
Sorry it is `u.getcode()` for urllib2, run `import ssl;ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION` — Padraic Cunningham, Jan 23 '16 at 21:54
Okay, now I'm a little confused. Sorry, I'm brand new to python. Are you suggesting that I add that to my code? Or do I need to sub it for the u= urllib2.urlopen(https://...)?? — Christopher Demetrius, Jan 23 '16 at 22:04
Just add a print u.getcode() and import ssl and print ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION — Padraic Cunningham, Jan 23 '16 at 22:36
@padraicCunningham I'm still getting the same error when I add this. Is there somewhere specific to include these lines? and I'm not supposed to be including the keyword 'print' in front of these statements correct? — Christopher Demetrius, Jan 23 '16 at 23:17
Yes you should use print for both to make sure we see the output, use u.getcode() with whatever you did that did not error but returned nothing and the ssl output is to show what version of OPENSSL you are using — Padraic Cunningham, Jan 23 '16 at 23:57
I got errors that ended with this: File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 558, in http_error_default raise HTTPError(req.get_full_url(), code, msg, hdrs, fp) HTTPError: HTTP Error 404: Not Found — Christopher Demetrius, Jan 24 '16 at 00:16

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 23 '16 at 21:33

0

The URL has changed; try https://nvd.nist.gov/feeds/xml/cve/nvdcve-2.0-Recent.xml.zip instead.

answered Jan 23 '16 at 21:33

Hugh Bothwell

55,315
8
84
99

(?) it works for me now, too. But it didn't 3 minutes ago, gave me a 404 error. – Hugh Bothwell Jan 23 '16 at 21:39
Might be some issues with the url but I don't think a 404 would give an ssl error – Padraic Cunningham Jan 23 '16 at 21:45

Python 2.7.11 [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED]

1 Answers1