Cannot upload or insert files and images: Clicking on upload icon and nothing happens

Modified on Mon, 3 Oct, 2022 at 10:47 PM

When you try to add a file or image to an upload box or insert images and files into an essay question, and nothing happens, you may be encountering an issue that started occurring as of Sept 30, 2021.

File upload box

Essay question with image and file insert buttons circled

On October 1, 2021, an update to security certificates issued by one company, LetsEncrypt, has resulted in machines running an older macOS version being unable to automatically trust certain components of the internet using those certificates. While Labflow doesn't use this particular company for our security certificates, the technology we use for the File Upload does rely on this company and these certificates. The result is that the file upload modal is not trusted in Chrome and Safari browsers on machines running the older macOS, and won't show up.

The best way to solve this issue is to upgrade macOS to a newer version.

To see if you are impacted by this, check the version of your macOS. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left of the screen, and select About This Mac. You will see the version of your operating system in the popup.

Users with macOS Sierra 10.12.1 or newer, are fine. The versions and code names for these are the following:

11.6 (Big Sur)
10.15.7 (Catalina)
10.14.6 (Mojave)
10.13.6 (High Sierra)*
10.12.6 (Sierra)*

Users using older versions of macOS will not be able to upload files. These include the following:

MacOS 10.11 (El Capitan)*
MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite)*
MacOS 10.9 (Mavericks)*

* Something important to note about everything from macOS High Sierra and older no longer receives security updates from Apple. We highly recommend upgrading to a version of the macOS that receives security updates from Apple.

If you are unable to update operating systems, there is a manual way to accept the security certificate and be able to upload files in Labflow. We recommend asking your university IT office for help in this endeavor.

Additionally, if you install an older version of Firefox (version 76), you should be able to upload files. The latest versions of Firefox cannot be installed on MacOS 10.11 or earlier.

List of Compatible and Incompatible Platforms

It is not just older macOS machines that have an issue, here is the complete list of operating systems that will work and not work with this new certificate.

Platforms that will work

Windows >= XP SP3 (assuming Automatic Root Certificate Update isn’t manually disabled)
macOS >= 10.12.1
iOS >= 10 (iOS 9 does not include it)
iPhone 5 and above can upgrade to iOS 10 and can thus trust ISRG Root X1
Android >= 7.1.1 (but Android >= 2.3.6 will work by default due to our special cross-sign)
Mozilla Firefox >= 50.0
Ubuntu >= xenial / 16.04 (with updates applied)
Debian >= jessie / 8 (with updates applied)
Java 8 >= 8u141
Java 7 >= 7u151
NSS >= 3.26
Browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Opera) generally trust the same root certificates as the operating system they are running on. Firefox is the exception: it has its own root store. Soon, new versions of Chrome will also have their own root store.

Platforms that stopped working in September 2021

macOS < 10.12.1
iOS < 10
Mozilla Firefox < 50
Ubuntu >= precise / 12.04 and < xenial / 16.04
Debian >= squeeze / 6 and < jessie /8
Java 8 >= 8u101 and < 8u141
Java 7 >= 7u111 and < 7u151
NSS >= v3.11.9 and < 3.26
Amazon FireOS (Silk Browser) (version range unknown)
Cyanogen > v10 (version that added ISRG Root X1 unknown)
Jolla Sailfish OS > v1.1.2.16 (version that added ISRG Root X1 unknown)
Kindle > v3.4.1 (version that added ISRG Root X1 unknown)
Blackberry >= 10.3.3 (version that added ISRG Root X1 unknown)
PS4 game console with firmware >= 5.00 (version that added ISRG Root X1 unknown)

Platforms that should not have been working previously

Blackberry < v10.3.3
Android < v2.3.6
Nintendo 3DS
Windows XP prior to SP3
Java 7 < 7u111
Java 8 < 8u101
Windows Live Mail (2012 mail client, not webmail)
PS3 game console
PS4 game console with firmware < 5.00