No longer able to digitally sign VBA code in Excel 2016

Anonymous
2017-05-01T19:09:15+00:00

Hello all! 

I have a DigiCert issued code signing certificate that I have been able to use from January 2017 up until two weeks ago (about the time of the Creator's Update for Windows 10 Pro). The Cert is valid through 2020. Unfortunately, I when I try to sign VBA code with it now, I get the error message "There was a problem with the digital certificate. The VBA project could not be signed. The signature will be discarded.

Is anyone else getting this message when signing VBA code with a Cert that previously worked?

I was able to test on a co-worker’s computer running

OS: Windows 7 Pro SP1

Office: Office 365 ProPlus Ver 1701 (build 7766.2076).

I was able to successfully sign a macro file on this machine.

My computer is running

OS: Windows 10 Pro version 1703 (build 15063.250)

Office: Office 365 Ver 1701 (Build 7967.2139)

I am not able to successfully sign a macro file on my machine. I am able to successfully import the certificate though.

DigiCert of course blames the issue on Microsoft, and given that I can successfully sign on my co-worker's Windows 7 machine with a slightly older build of Office 365, I wonder if something  in the newer version of Office 365 broke the ability to sign VBA macros.

Thanks - Nate

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Anonymous
2017-08-03T18:12:15+00:00

Hi StephenGibb,

My re-installation must have missed the August updates you mention by a whisker. I forced an update just now, 1707 Build 8326.2062 is now my version. And, thankfully, it works!

Some extra info about when the problem was occurring for anyone else who might come across this thread:

As well as the failure to sign a project, Office was silently disabling all signed macros, not just those in the locations I mentioned above.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-06-08T10:35:04+00:00

    Edit: Updating Office 365 to Version 1705 (Build 8201.2075) has not resolved this issue. My initial tests seemed to show that it had but further use throughout the day has shown that it is still broken.

    Interestingly I opened a file that had originally been created and signed in Office 2010 with a now expired certificate. After applying the new certificate in Office 2010 and saving the file I opened it in 2016. To my utter amazement when I checked the certificate it was showing the old, expired certificate was still applied. I reopened the file in 2010 to find that yes it did have the new certificate applied. So I removed the certificate in 2010, saved the file and opened it in 2016 to find that the old expired certificate was still there.

    This suggests to me that Office 2016 applies the signature differently to previous versions.

    I am now back to where this started, though my colleagues on the same build of Office do not have the same issues. Even if I take a blank document/workbook/presentation, add an empty code module and apply the signature as soon as I save the file I get:

    Edit 2: Having read above that O365 on Win 7 was working I tried installing O365 on a Win 7virtual machine. I had reasoned that perhaps it was the combination of O365 and Win 10 creating the issue. Since I log into my Win10 machines with a Microsoft account the settings are synchronised, so logically the experience will be the same on any Win 10 machine. A Win7 machine doesn't have the sync mechanism so will be different and it will just work, right? Wrong! Exactly the same happens on Win 7 as Win10.

    I just can't reason out why this issue is only affecting some users and not others.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-05T17:54:44+00:00

    I have the same error signing VBA in Office 2016 (1704) on Windows 10 (1703).  I have two PCs with this config and both have the same problem.  I can sign the same VBA from other PCs running win 7 and Office 2010 or 2013.

    This was with self-signed certs generated by selfcert.exe.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-01T14:49:05+00:00

    I also have this problem and I have also posted about it here.

    This remains an issue in Version 1704 (Build 8067.2115) which is running on Windows 10 Pro Version 1703.

    I have two machines with the same configuration except one also has Office 2010 installed in parallel. Office 2010 works fine but Office 2016/365 does not.

    Another machine running Windows 7 with Office 2013 also works fine.

    In my case the certificate was issued by Thawte.

    The issue was introduced in a build of Office 365 version 1703. One day it worked fine the next, after an update, it was broken.

    Evidently it is not affecting enough people for Microsoft to hear the screams.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-11T16:21:16+00:00

    Winfried,

    Hmmm.... Can you tell me the build number of your Office 365? I thought that I had things working properly, but when I saved my "signed" file the cert was determined to have a problem and was deleted. On your Windows 10 machine are you using:

    OS: Windows 10 Pro version 1703 (build 15063.296)

    Office: Office 365 Ver 1701 (Build 7967.2139)

    If you have some other build of either, can you tell me what build you are on?

    Thanks!

    Nate

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