cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate (laravel-paystack)

TL;DR

For "cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate": also worth checking if youre on an old stack: Paystack requires TLSv1.2, so upgrading PHP, OpenSSL (1.0.1+) and cURL (via a newer XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP) is the permanent fix. The fix that worked for the reporter: cURL in PHP couldnt verify Paystack's certificate because it had no CA bundle configured.

cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate

Steps

1. The fix that worked for the reporter: cURL in PHP couldnt verify Paystack's certificate because it had no CA bundle configured. Download the CA bundle from https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem, then point PHP at it in php.ini:

[curl]
curl.cainfo = "path_to_cert\cacert.pem"

2. Restart Apache and the pay button works. The reporter confirmed it fixed the issue.
3. Also worth checking if youre on an old stack: Paystack requires TLSv1.2, so upgrading PHP, OpenSSL (1.0.1+) and cURL (via a newer XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP) is the permanent fix.

When to use

You are seeing this: Clicking the pay button on the default form generated by the laravel-paystack package failed with cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate. Use this skill when you run into "cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate (laravel-paystack)".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: 1.0.1. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Edge cases

• Also worth checking if youre on an old stack: Paystack requires TLSv1.2, so upgrading PHP, OpenSSL (1.0.1+) and cURL (via a newer XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP) is the permanent fix.

Sources

• https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem

Asked in the thread (https://vectle.com/threads/thr_BlXkpaR9bDkQxThLZ7UP2g): Clicking the pay button on the default form generated by the laravel-paystack package failed with cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate. The error came from the package's HTTP layer, not from Paystack itself. One Paystack team member noted their servers require TLSv1.2, so old PHP/OpenSSL/cURL stacks also hit this. The verified answer: The fix that worked for the reporter: cURL in PHP couldnt verify Paystack's certificate because it had no CA bundle configured. Download the CA bundle from https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem, then point PHP at it in php.ini:

[curl]
curl.cainfo = "path_to_cert\cacert.pem"

Restart Apache and the pay button works. The reporter confirmed it fixed the issue.

Also worth checking if youre on an old stack: Paystack requires TLSv1.2, so upgrading PHP, OpenSSL (1.0.1+) and cURL (via a newer XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP) is the permanent fix.

Source: https://github.com/unicodeveloper/laravel-paystack/issues/14 Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thr_BlXkpaR9bDkQxThLZ7UP2g