Knowledge Base

Description

DigiCert will shorten the domain validation reuse period from 397 days to 199 days on February 17, 2026 at 00:00 UTC. The reuse period for your existing domain validation will also be shortened from 397 days to 199 days. This change affects all products that require the domain validation:

• Public OV TLS products
• Public EV TLS products
• X9 PKI for TLS
• EU Qualified Website Authentication Certificate
• EU Qualified Website Authentication Certificate PSD2
• PKIo Private Services Server
• Secure Email products for email domain validation
   

This change does not affect the domain validation for public DV certificates, which do not support domain validation reuse.

Why is DigiCert doing this?

DigiCert is making these changes to align with the CA/Browser Forum’s Ballot SC081v3: Introduce Schedule of Reducing Validity and Data Reuse Periods. This ballot sets a timeline to reduce the domain validation reuse period from 397 days to 200 days in 2026, 100 days in 2027, and 10 days in 2029. Learn more about Ballot SC081v3.

• Learn how this Ballot affects organization validation
• Learn how this Ballot affects TLS certificate validity

Domain validation reuse period in the CA/Browser Forum

Items covered in this article

• What’s changing
• How does the reduced domain validation reuse affect you?
• References

What's changing

Today, when you validate your domains for certificates, those validations can be reused for up to 397 days. On February 17, 2026 at 00:00 UTC, the validation reuse period will change, and DigiCert will make the following changes to the domain validation reuse process:

• New domains
  Any domains validated on and after February 17, 2026, can be reused for up to 199 days. You will need to revalidate these domains every 199 days, these domains every 199 days, rather than 397 days.
• Existing domains
  DigiCert will also shorten the reuse period for the existing domain validations from 397 days to 199 days.
  • For domains validated before August 3, 2025, their domain validations will expire immediately on February 17, 2026.
  • For domains validated on or after August 3, 2025, these domain validations will remain valid through February 17, 2026, but will expire earlier than the original 397-day period.

How does the reduced domain validation reuse affect you?

No immediate action is required. We recommend you prepare for this change:

• Get ready to validate domains every 199 days.
  Expired domain validation may disrupt certificate issuance if domains are not revalidated in time. If you rely on immediate certificate issuance, you will need to revalidate some domains before February 17, 2026. See the next bullet point.
  DigiCert recommends automating your domain validation process. For example, if you use DigiCert UltraDNS, you can integrate it with CertCentral to set up continuous domain validation. See UltraDNS to CertCentral integration.
• Review your domain validation expiration dates.
  Before February 17, 2026, DigiCert will display the 199-day domain expiration date alongside the current 397-day domain expiration date to help you identify the impacted domains.
  To help you identify these domains, we will update the Domains and “domain’s detail” pages in CertCentral:
  • Domains listing page
    On the Domains listing page in CertCentral, we are adding a new Validation expires SC-081 column next to the Validation expires column. This new column allows you to compare the original and new expiration dates and determine whether domain revalidation is required.
    To access the Domains page, in the left menu, go to Certificates > Domains.
  • “Domain’s detail” page
    On the “domain’s detail” page in CertCentral, we are also adding a new Validation expires SC-081 field next to the Validation expires field. The new field lets you easily compare the original and new expiration dates and plan domain revalidation as needed.
    At the bottom of the domain detail page, you can initiate domain revalidation if the shortened domain expiration date is earlier than February 17, 2026.

References

• TLS Certificate Lifetimes Will Officially Reduce to 47 Days
• Voting Period Begins: SC-081v3: Introduce Schedule of Reducing Validity and Data Reuse Periods
• Domain control validation (DCV) methods
• UltraDNS The Cloud-Based, Authoritative DNS Service for Your Business