PHP cURL error 'SSL certificate problem' when calling the MonCash API from shared hosting

Question

My MonCash integration works on my laptop, but on my shared host every request fails with `cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate`. A forum post says to set `CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER` to false. Is that OK?

Accepted Answer

**Do not disable certificate verification.** With `VERIFYPEER=false`, anyone on the network path can impersonate the MonCash API, and that includes the requests that carry your client secret and your payment confirmations. Your server could be told a payment succeeded when it didn't.

Error 60 means your server's **CA certificate bundle** is missing or outdated, which is common on old shared hosts. Fix the trust store instead:

1. **Ask the host to update** CA certificates or PHP. PHP 7.4 is end-of-life, so move to PHP 8.x if the panel allows it.
2. **Point cURL at a current bundle.** Download `cacert.pem` from the curl project (https://curl.se/docs/caextract.html), upload it outside your web root, and use it:

~~~php
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CAINFO, '/home/youraccount/certs/cacert.pem');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
~~~

Or set it globally in `php.ini`: `curl.cainfo = "/home/youraccount/certs/cacert.pem"`.
3. Check the **server clock**. A wrong date also makes valid certificates look invalid.

Refresh the bundle occasionally, since CAs change over time.

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