Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider, experienced a significant outage on November 18, 2025, affecting numerous websites and online services worldwide. The outage, which lasted around three hours, was caused by a latent bug in Cloudflare's bot mitigation tools triggered by a routine configuration update.
Affected Services:
- Social media:
X (formerly Twitter), Facebook.
- Productivity Tools:
Canva, ChatGPT, OpenAI.
- Gaming Platforms:
Steam, Epic Games Store, Counter-Strike, Fortnite.
- E-commerce Sites:
Uber, DoorDash, jumia.
- Other services:
Spotify, Zoom, Quizlet.
Impact:
The outage resulted in widespread 500 errors, API call failures, and issues with accessing various websites. Cloudflare's status page and dashboard were also affected, making it challenging for users to track the issue.
Resolution:
Cloudflare identified the problem and implemented a fix, restoring services around 14:30 UTC. The company apologized for the disruption and assured customers that it was working to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Post-Outage Updates:
Cloudflare has shared more details about the outage, attributing it to a database permission change that triggered a faulty configuration file. The company has promised to enhance its global kill switches to prevent similar issues.
