InvalidViewerCertificate
AWS InvalidViewerCertificate (Cloud Front Invalid Viewer Certificate) means the viewer certificate settings are invalid. In the CloudFront API, this error returns HTTP 400.
Last reviewed: February 4, 2026|Editorial standard: source-backed technical guidance
What Does Invalid Viewer Certificate Mean?
CloudFront rejected the viewer TLS configuration, so distribution update cannot deploy until certificate, alias coverage, and TLS policy settings are valid.
Common Causes
- -Certificate ARN, SAN coverage, or alias mapping is invalid for the distribution.
- -TLS security policy and certificate settings are incompatible.
- -Certificate region/account prerequisites for CloudFront are not satisfied.
- -Distribution update references stale or incorrect certificate configuration.
How to Fix Invalid Viewer Certificate
- 1Use a valid certificate with alias coverage for all configured CNAMEs.
- 2Align TLS policy with supported CloudFront certificate options.
- 3Validate certificate status and ownership prerequisites before update.
- 4Retry distribution update after certificate settings are normalized.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis for Invalid Viewer Certificate
- 1Inspect viewer-certificate block and referenced certificate ARN.
- 2Check SAN/domain coverage against distribution aliases.
- 3Validate certificate status, chain, and CloudFront compatibility constraints.
- 4Compare failing config with a known-working certificate profile.
Certificate and Alias Coverage Validation
- -Verify certificate covers every configured alternate domain name (example: one CNAME missing from SAN list triggers InvalidViewerCertificate).
- -Confirm certificate source prerequisites for CloudFront (example: ACM certificate must be in us-east-1 for viewer certificate usage).
TLS Policy and Deployment Contract Checks
- -Audit viewer certificate block against allowed TLS policy combinations (example: minimum protocol policy conflicts with selected cert option).
- -Diff rendered distribution config against known-good certificate profile (example: stale cert ARN in one environment template).
How to Verify the Fix
- -Re-run distribution update and confirm certificate config is valid.
- -Validate TLS handshake and certificate presentation at edge endpoints.
- -Confirm no repeated viewer-certificate validation errors.
How to Prevent Recurrence
- -Automate certificate-domain coverage checks before CloudFront deploys.
- -Track certificate expiry and renewal readiness with alerts.
- -Pin supported TLS policy/certificate combinations in templates.
Pro Tip
- -run pre-deploy certificate gate checks that validate SAN coverage, certificate status, and us-east-1 placement before any CloudFront update step.
Decision Support
Compare Guide
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Playbook
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Playbook
Validation Failure Playbook (400 / 422 / INVALID_ARGUMENT)
Use this playbook to separate malformed-request failures from semantic validation failures, then fix request contracts without broad server-side bypasses.
Official References
Provider Context
This guidance is specific to AWS services. Always validate implementation details against official provider documentation before deploying to production.