Every Oculus Rift VR headset bricked due to expired certificate [Update with fix]

Users of the Oculus Rift discovered today that their headsets have stopped working, and after a bit of digging, the issue appears to be caused by an expired certificate in the Oculus Runtime Service, which is being viewed as invalid. The file in question is called OculusAppFramework.dll and this will need updating in order for the software, and headset to work again.

The only workaround for now, appears to be setting your computer back a day or more, earlier than March 7, but that is hardly an ideal situation since it would bring more issues with other apps that rely on the correct date, such as the Windows Update service for example.

For now, if you are an Oculus Rift owner, it would be best to keep an eye out for a software update, or an official announcement from Oculus VR themselves. As of writing, it seems that you can only rely on a bit of peer support in the community forums (linked below).

Source: Oculus VR (forums) via Windows Central

Update: Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell has posted a topic at Reddit asking users to keep an eye on the thread for an update, you can track its progress here, or on Twitter:

Update 2: Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell has provided an update on Reddit, stating that the team is still working to resolve the issue:

Update 3 (March 8 09:35 CET): Oculus has now provided a 4 MB patch to fix the expired certificate issue with the Oculus VR headset. You can download the patch at the official site here, it is called OculusPatchMarch2018.exe and is 3,972 KB, instructions to install it are provided below.

To resolve the "Can’t Reach Oculus Runtime Service" error, please follow these steps:

If you currently have the Oculus app installed:

1. Go to https://www.oculus.com/rift-patch/.
2. Click Download Install Patch to download OculusPatchMarch2018.exe.
3. Open OculusPatchMarch2018.exe.
   • If Windows asks you if you’re sure you want to open this file, click Yes.
   • If Windows Defender prompts "Windows protected your PC", click More info and then click Run anyway.
   • If your antivirus software restricts the file from opening, temporarily disable your AV and continue.
4. Select Repair and confirm you would like to repair the Oculus software.
5. Allow the repair process to run, download and install.
6. Launch the Oculus app.

Shortly after the repair you will be prompted for an update. Please complete the update. The download and update may take up to 10 minutes depending on network connection.

If you uninstalled the Oculus app from your computer:

1. Go to https://www.oculus.com/setup.
2. Click Download Oculus Software to download OculusSetup.exe.
3. Open OculusSetup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions to install the latest version of the Oculus app.

Oculus also provided the above instructions here in a new support document.

Update 4 (March 8 10:30 CET): Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell has apologized for the mishap, and has promised that those affected by it will receive an Oculus store credit: