# SC-076v2: OCSP answers within 15 minutes of issuance

> SC-076v2 clarified OCSP rules: responders must give authoritative answers within 15 minutes of issuance from 2025-01-15, and 'reserved' serials were removed.

Source: https://ssl.sh/ballots/sc-076/
Last updated: 2026-11-10

SC-076v2 cleaned up the [OCSP](https://ssl.sh/glossary/ocsp/) rules and set one concrete deadline: since 2025-01-15, if a TLS certificate contains an OCSP URL, the CA's responder must give an authoritative "good" or "revoked" answer for it within 15 minutes of the certificate first being published.

## What changed

SC-076v2 moved all OCSP requirements into §4.9.9 and fixed three sources of confusion that the ballot text lists. First, "reserved" serial numbers: since every precertificate serial is assumed to belong to a real certificate, the concept was removed and such serials count as assigned. Second, how quickly responders must start answering for new certificates and precertificates: now 15 minutes. Third, whether the rules apply to certificates without an OCSP URL that a responder still answers for. Section 4.9.9 groups the requirements into definitions, requirements on responders (only for responders named in issued certificates) and requirements on responses (for every response).

## Effective dates

The BR change took effect on 2024-11-14; the 15-minute rule applies from 2025-01-15.

## Who is affected

SC-076v2 affects CAs that still run OCSP; [SC-063v4](https://ssl.sh/ballots/sc-063/) made OCSP optional, and [Let's Encrypt](https://ssl.sh/cas/lets-encrypt/), for one, has since shut its OCSP service down. For site operators the rule matters with [OCSP stapling](https://ssl.sh/glossary/ocsp-stapling/): right after a new certificate is installed, a web server could previously fetch an "unknown" response and staple it.

## What to do

No new action is needed. If you staple OCSP and deploy certificates seconds after issuance, a short delay or a server that retries stapling avoids serving a useless response. Read [OCSP and CRL](https://ssl.sh/learn/ocsp-and-crl/) for the bigger picture.


| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Ballot | SC-076v2 |
| Status | Passed |
| Adopted | 2024-09-26 |
| Effective | 2024-11-14 |
| BR version | 2.1.0 |
| Official page | https://cabforum.org/2024/10/14/ballot-sc076v2-clarify-and-improve-ocsp-requirements/ |