CA/Browser Forum
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Application for Membership

For CAs and Browsers Interested in Joining the CA / Browser Forum:

Browser manufacturers or developers of software that includes trusted root certificates may wish to consider joining the CA/Browser Forum.  Our Bylaws require that your organization “…produces a software product intended for use by the general public for browsing the Web securely.”

Our bylaws provide that CA members shall meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • Issuing CA:- The member organization operates a certification authority that has a current and successful WebTrust for CAs audit, or ETSI 102042 or ETSI 101456 audit report prepared by a properly-qualified auditor, and that actively issues certificates to Web servers that are openly accessible from the Internet using any one of the mainstream browsers.
  • Root CA:- The member organization operates a certification authority that has a current and successful WebTrust for CAs, or ETSI 102042 or ETSI 101456 audit report prepared by a properly-qualified auditor, and that actively issues certificates to subordinate CAs that, in turn, actively issue certificates to Web servers that are openly accessible from the Internet using any one of the mainstream browsers.

Click this Membership Application section of our “Information for Potential Members” page.

Membership
Latest releases
Server Certificate Requirements
SC095v3: Clean-up 2025 - Apr 2, 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
v1.0.13 - Ballot SMC015v2 - Mar 28, 2026

This ballot introduces requirements that a CA or RA must follow to rely upon a Mobile Drivers License (mDL) to provide evidence for the authentication of individual identity. It allows the use of mDL that conform to ISO/IEC 18013-5 and which may be verified by the CA or RA in conformance with ISO/IEC 18013-7. The CA or RA shall only accept mDL from an Issuing Authority that is legally authorized by the relevant government or jurisdiction to issue driving licenses. The draft also aligns the subsections of 3.2.4.2 (Validation of individual identity) to correspond more closely with those in 3.2.4.1 (Attribute collection of individual identity). It also includes minor editorial corrections. SMC015v2 was updated to remove an additional reference to the superceded ETSI EN 319 403. This ballot is proposed by Stephen Davidson (DigiCert) and endorsed by Ben Wilson (Mozilla) and Scott Rea (eMudhra).

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

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The Certification Authority Browser Forum (CA/Browser Forum) is a voluntary gathering of Certificate Issuers and suppliers of Internet browser software and other applications that use certificates (Certificate Consumers).