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Bylaws History

Bylaws

For a current version of the Bylaws, see Bylaws

The CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were amended with passage of Ballot Forum-18 v3, with an effective date of 20 July 2023. They are available here as a PDF: CA/Browser Forum Bylaws, v. 2.5. (Redline version)

Previous Versions

Version 2.4 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted with passage of Ballot Forum-18, with an effective date of 3 August 2022. They are available here as a PDF: CA/Browser Forum Bylaws, v. 2.4.

Version 2.3 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted with passage of Ballot Forum-12 and became effective on 26 May 2020. They are available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws, v. 2.3

Version 2.2 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted with passage of Ballot Forum-9 – Bylaws and Server Certificate Working Group Charter Updates and became effective on 20 May 2019. They are available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws, v. 2.2

Version 2.1 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted with passage of Ballot Forum-6 – Update ETSI Requirements in the Bylaws and became effective on 1 October 2018. They are available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws, v. 2.1

Version 2.0 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted with passage of Ballot Forum-4 v.3 and became effective on 28 September 2018. They are available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 2.0

Version 1.9 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and become effective 3 July 2018 with passage of Ballot 206. They are available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.9

Version 1.8 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and became effective 21 December 2017 with passage of Ballot 216 and is available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.8.

Version 1.7 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and became effective 6 July 2017 with passage of Ballot 205, and is available here as a PDF: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.7.

Version 1.6 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and became effective 30 May 2017 with passage of Ballot 200, and are available as a PDF here: ** CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.6**CABF-Bylaws-v.1.9_20FEB18

Version 1.5 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and became effective 31 January 2017 with passage of Ballot 183, and are available as a PDF here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.5.

Version 1.4 of the CA / Browser Forum Bylaws were adopted and became effective 4 April 2016 with passage of Ballot 166, and are available as a PDF here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.4.

Version 1.3 of the CA / Browser Forum bylaws were adopted and became effective 10 July 2015 with passage of Ballot 149, and are available as a PDF here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.3

Version 1.2 of the CA / Browser Forum bylaws were adopted and became effective 16 October 2014, and are available as a PDF here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v.1.2

Version 1.1 of the CA / Browser Forum bylaws were adopted and became effective 25 March 2014, and are available as a PDF here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.1

Ballot 98 clarified the Bylaws that votes of Members on CAB Forum ballots are public information. That version is available here: CA-Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.0-Ballot-98.

Version 1.0 of the Bylaws were adopted in 2012 and is available here: CA/Browser Forum Bylaws v. 1.0

Latest releases

Server Certificate Requirements
SC098: Process RFC 8657 CAA Parameters - Jun 16, 2026

Code Signing Requirements
v3.8 - Aug 5, 2024

What’s Changed CSC-25: Import EV Guidelines to CS Baseline Requirements by @dzacharo in https://github.com/cabforum/code-signing/pull/38 Full Changelog: https://github.com/cabforum/code-signing/compare/v3.7...v3.8

S/MIME Requirements
v1.0.15 - Ballot SMC017v2 - Jul 30, 2026

This ballot increases the minimum RSA key size for Root and Subordinate CA certificates in the S/MIME BRs from 2048 to 4096 bits for keys created after September 15, 2026, while retaining the 2048-bit minimum for Subscriber certificates. The ballot further requires that by September 15, 2027, CAs SHALL NOT issue Subscriber certificates from any Sub-CA whose RSA key modulus is less than 3072 bits, effectively sunsetting issuance from legacy 2048-bit Sub-CAs. The ballot also includes minor typographic corrections. This ballot is proposed by Martijn Katerbarg (Sectigo) and endorsed by Ben Wilson (Mozilla) and Stephen Davidson (DigiCert)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements
Version 2.0.5 (Ballot NS-008) - Jul 9, 2025