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Solving the error BER decoding with digital signature using a certificate on a smart card

I had problems with digitally signing documents in Acrobat Reader 2023.003 via a certificate on a smart card. Whereas in Acrobat Standard 2017 the digital signature worked correctly, in Acrobat Reader DC an error message popped up: Error in BER decoding, and the signature, which was visible in the document was not valid. The Adobe support recommended using a solution by re-creating the digital ID and/or Crypto folder (see https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/error-creation-signature-could-completed.html). But this did not solve the problem. By further internet search I found a discussion in the Adobe Community which recommended:
Go to Preferences of Adobe: Edit/Preferences/Security (Enhanced):
Enable Protected Mode at Startup: deactivate checkbox;
Protected View: Off;
Enable Enhanced Security: activate checkbox;
Automatically trust documents with valid certificate: activate checkbox;
Automatically trust sites… : activate checkbox;

In the default settings in my company the checkbox “Enable Protected Mode at Startup” was activated. The other settings were as recommended. After deactivating the checkbox and closing and reopening Acrobat Reader I could add a valid digital signature with my smart card certificate.

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Michael Matzke shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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  • David Najman commented  ·   ·  Report

    If it is on a Mac OSm check this:
    If you're experiencing issues with applications like Adobe Acrobat Reader not being able to access your digital signature certificate's private key stored in Keychain Access, or if you simply want an extra layer of security, you might need to adjust its access control settings. Specifically, enabling "Confirm before allowing" ensures that macOS will prompt you for confirmation every time an application attempts to use that private key.

    Here's a step-by-step guide:

    Open Keychain Access (Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access).
    Find your private key (the key icon) for e.g. the PostSignum certificate.
    Right-click on it and select "Get Info".
    Go to the "Access Control" tab.
    Check the box for "Confirm before allowing".
    Click "Save Changes".
    That's it! Now, macOS will prompt you for confirmation every time the key is accessed.