While installing a .NET Framework on your computer, if you get The timestamp signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed error, you can check out these solutions to get rid of this problem. It may also happen while opening or updating some third-party apps on your computer. Either way, you can follow these tips to eliminate the issue.
Depending upon the source of this problem, the error message says something like this:
Installation Did Not Succeed
.NET Framework 4.8 has not been installed because:
The timestamp signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed.
For more information about this problem, see the log file.
You might also receive an error code 0x80096005 while installing the .NET Framework on your computer.
The primary reason for this problem is the outdated installer, driver, or root certificate. Every driver you want to install on your computer needs to be digitally signed. However, if it is outdated, you might get the problem on your computer.
What is a malformed certificate?
A malformed certificate is a faulty certificate injected into a .NET Framework or driver or software. When Windows cannot verify a certificate before installing the app due to any reason, it tagged the certificate as a malformed certificate.
How do you fix The timestamp Signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed?
To fix The timestamp signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed error, you need to check the certificate’s validity, and download the latest installer from the official website. Apart from that, you can disable the code signing verification as well.
The timestamp signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed
To fix The timestamp signature and/or certificate could not be verified or is malformed error on Windows 11/10, follow these steps:
- Check the certificate timestamp
- Download the latest installer
- Unblock driver
- Disable code signing for the driver package
- Disable driver signature enforcement
To learn more about these solutions, continue reading.
1] Check the certificate timestamp
It is the first thing you need to check before heading to other steps. If the certificate is expired, you cannot install the driver or the .NET Framework on your computer. To do that, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the file and select Properties.
- Switch to the Digital Signatures tab.
- Select the signer and click the Details button.
- Click the View Certificate button.
- Check the Valid from date.
If it is not expired, you can follow the rest of the workarounds. However, if it is expired, you can contact the driver developer or download the latest version of the installer.
2] Download the latest installer
Whether you are getting this issue while installing .NET Framework or anything else, you can download the latest installer from the official website. For .NET Framework, you need to head to the dotnet.microsoft.com website and select the version you want to download. If you downloaded the installer a long time ago, it is better to follow this solution.
3] Unblock driver
You might sometimes see this error while installing the driver or .NET Framework right after downloading it on your computer. To get rid of that, you need to unblock the file. For that, you can right-click on the downloaded file, tick the Unblock checkbox in the General tab, and click the OK button.
Next, you can continue with the installation process.
4] Disable code signing for driver package
This Group Policy setting lets you install a driver that doesn’t have a digital signature. You can follow this guide when the timestamp is expired as well. For that, do the following:
- Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
- Type gpedit.msc and press the Enter button.
- Go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Driver Installation.
- Double-click on the Code signing for driver packages setting.
- Select the Enabled option.
- Choose the Ignore option from the drop-down list.
- Click the OK button.
After that, close all the windows and check if you can install the framework or not.
5] Disable driver signature enforcement
You can completely disable driver signature enforcement on your Windows 11/10 computer to fix this problem. It doesn’t consume much time and fixes the issue immediately. Therefore, follow this detailed guide to turn off driver signature enforcement on Windows.
However, you should note that disabling driver signature enforcement is not good from a security point of view and hence, do it only as a temporary measure.
I hope this guide helped you fix the issue.
