When trying to launch VRChat, I sometimes get greeted with the error "Failed to connect to VRChat. Verify connection and try again."

The log file then contains this error:

2026.07.30 19:32:59 Error - VRCCertificatePolicy: certificate verification failed for requestHost , cert subject CN=*.photonengine.io, cert public key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cert issuer CN=RapidSSL TLS RSA CA G1, OU=www.digicert.com, O=DigiCert Inc, C=US

When checking the current public key of ns.photonengine.io:443 it appears to have changed with a certificate generated on July 27:

Validity

Not Before: Jul 27 00:00:00 2026 GMT

Not After : Feb 10 23:59:59 2027 GMT

Subject: CN=*.photonengine.io

Subject Public Key Info:

Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption

Public-Key: (2048 bit)

Modulus:

00:8d:de:ae:f9:5d:d4:94:79:6d:7d:68:54:74:34:

46:e6:3a:bf:12:e6:66:ec:cc:cd:ef:43:03:ca:c8:

b1:a6:c8:a3:21:9f:cd:69:66:49:27:33:db:81:e7:

9f:d2:92:47:c0:68:7e:a1:95:b1:ca:d6:d7:e5:d1:

eb:11:26:96:a5:95:58:93:1b:83:9c:d0:48:11:d2:

2f:d8:7c:32:8b:c9:e8:12:ec:de:f0:3d:c7:a6:f5:

92:1c:c5:03:50:2e:aa:73:24:55:62:e4:43:ab:d6:

ed:4c:a4:33:15:d4:b2:57:29:ad:c7:58:ea:c6:eb:

ab:93:c7:27:9f:6b:d8:d1:08:fe:ca:d1:8e:8b:ec:

04:37:b6:49:88:f1:77:a1:9c:fe:54:bf:7a:14:dd:

f8:1d:25:c5:cb:01:e0:c5:11:e5:6c:4e:bc:b2:af:

47:ca:4d:3c:89:50:d2:95:7d:2e:28:78:8f:e8:67:

69:6c:8b:f0:e5:fc:07:dd:c8:41:4f:ef:cb:ad:de:

4f:c2:e5:d9:63:c7:c8:fd:34:96:49:ea:b9:f6:4b:

f0:9c:ac:6d:7a:be:bc:f9:1a:3e:e7:b9:3d:93:51:

99:85:30:cc:29:5c:0a:10:6f:3f:47:0a:9b:e1:4d:

b6:ff:39:74:39:d4:e7:5e:f5:d6:8d:16:b0:10:8c:

fa:f3

For reference, the public key currently listed in the API config is for a cert that expires on August 10:

Validity

Not Before: Jul 14 00:00:00 2025 GMT

Not After : Aug 10 23:59:59 2026 GMT

Subject: CN=*.photonengine.io

Subject Public Key Info:

Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption

Public-Key: (2048 bit)

Modulus:

00:d4:59:0d:e9:87:1b:0e:dc:2d:da:12:81:d6:e6:

b5:fc:85:8c:62:4f:2d:09:60:f2:73:1d:36:1f:31:

23:d8:f5:6b:65:39:1e:0a:1f:18:81:db:e9:40:24:

c2:31:a9:18:3b:7f:7d:9b:66:fe:b8:1c:85:3b:f4:

61:14:bc:a6:a4:b7:02:d7:cb:f0:88:b8:83:62:6a:

3a:82:39:a5:3a:c2:cc:66:83:b6:5a:a2:09:dd:07:

69:e4:3b:72:24:83:a1:23:3d:df:e4:7b:bf:75:20:

b0:36:9e:65:01:cc:f3:d3:13:9e:b3:a3:4b:80:0a:

bb:82:19:37:c7:e0:08:02:e2:04:da:0a:93:2c:e2:

8f:e0:5d:07:d9:f2:34:90:ca:7e:9a:5b:40:07:3a:

c8:09:af:bf:aa:ec:58:99:b7:ec:62:42:99:38:59:

46:7a:cb:41:f9:91:c6:64:bf:84:d5:4e:a7:c2:de:

c0:5b:55:b3:06:ab:0f:d3:0f:43:e4:ee:7e:79:3e:

3e:7d:f3:67:1b:36:32:92:1d:7d:76:76:a6:35:1e:

95:21:3e:35:a7:db:9f:42:50:6e:f7:d1:be:15:a7:

de:f0:6f:b2:55:67:8b:d0:a8:47:56:8c:86:26:95:

b4:23:39:a5:7a:37:35:1c:a6:0c:65:80:12:cb:bc:

49:49

Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)

Therefore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should be added to the photonPublicKeys of /api/1/config but without removing the other currently existing entry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