Let's Encrypt will reduce default certificate validity to 64 days starting in February 2027, according to SecurityWeek. Help Net Security confirms the exact date as February 10, 2027, and notes the move is a step toward a 45-day default in 2028. Both sources agree that the change affects newly issued certificates, while existing 45-day and 6-day subscribers will not see any disruption.
The shorter lifetime is intended to limit the impact of key compromise and mis-issuance, says Sarah Gran of the Internet Security Research Group, the nonprofit behind Let's Encrypt. Help Net Security adds that the organization will also cut authorization reuse from 30 days to 10 days, then to seven hours by 2028, to comply with a 2029 validation reuse limit.
For administrators, automated renewals through ACME clients that support Renewal Info should work without changes, but fixed-interval renewals may need updating. Help Net Security recommends testing in the staging environment from October 14, 2026, and notes that Let's Encrypt will not revoke valid certificates during the transition. SecurityWeek does not mention these operational details, but the two reports do not contradict each other.