Unexpected CSR Validation Error: Serial Number Length Limit Introduced Without Changelog Update

Onboarding, renewal and revocation
1

Hi Zatca Team,

We are currently facing the following response when registering a new EGS Unit and requesting the CSID:

{"type":"ERROR","message":"The provided Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is invalid. Maximum number of characters for Serial Number should be less than or equal to 64.","category":"CSR_VALIDATION","code":"EXCEED_CHARACTER_LIMIT","status":"ERROR"}

We were surprised to see this new requirement regarding the Serial Number length.

It would be greatly appreciated if such changes or newly enforced validations were announced in the Changelogs or release notes. This helps solution providers prepare the necessary updates on our side in advance, and avoid unexpected issues during production onboarding.

Could you please confirm when this requirement was introduced, and whether there are any additional updates related to CSR validation that we should be aware of?

Thank you.

1 Like
2

Morning @mnuaimi

Thanks for reaching out.

We totally understand your concerns and thank you again for raising this. Kindly be informed that we will take your suggestion into consideration for the upcoming releases. However, please find the following fields in the CSR that should not exceed the new character limit:

  • Common name

  • Serial number

  • Organization Identifier

  • Organization unit.name

  • Organization name

  • Country name

  • Invoice Type

  • Location address

  • Industry business category

Thanks,
Ibrahem Daoud.

3

Hi @idaoud

Could we know the limit value for these fields? Is it 64 characters for all fields? Or the limit regards to RFC 5280?

4

Good afternoon,

can you please send here the new character limit for each of the CSR fields?

Thanks

5

The provided Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is invalid. Maximum number of characters for Location Address should be less than or equal to 64

It’s hapenning to us as well, even with less then 64 charchters, can you advise

6

Has the problem been resolved for you? I’m still facing the same issue when registering new customers. Has anyone else resolved this issue?

1 Like
7

Morning @alhattami.ahmed

I managed to solve the issue by reducing the length of the Serial Number.

Originally, my serial looked like this:

1-xxxxxxxxxxx|2-xxxxxxxxxxx(xxxxxxxxxxx)|3-fa98xx26-xxae-4xx5-9axx-6cxxx4b7ad2

I shortened the second part until it became:

1-xxxxxxxxxxx|2-xxxxxxxx|3-fa98xx26-xxae-4xx5-9axx-6cxxx4b7ad2

After reducing the characters, the CSR was accepted successfully.