Service failure triggers widespread errors
Large sections of the web experienced disruptions on Tuesday after a technical issue at Cloudflare caused major platforms to display error messages. Users attempting to access sites such as X and Letterboxd were met with alerts pointing to internal problems within Cloudflare systems. The company confirmed that it was investigating an issue affecting multiple customers, though early updates offered little detail about the cause.
The outage also reached Down Detector, which briefly failed to load even as it recorded a sharp spike in incident reports. Many users saw an internal server error notice that suggested trying again later. Early signs of trouble appeared around 1130 a.m. UK time, with Cloudflare acknowledging the problem shortly afterward and stating that its team was working to determine the source.
Cloudflare deploys fix while monitoring stability
Several hours into the disruption, Cloudflare reported that it had implemented a fix, though some customers continued to encounter difficulties accessing the company dashboard. The impact was wide, affecting Shopify, Indeed, the Claude chatbot, Truth Social, X, and regional services such as NJ Transit digital tools. OpenAI noted that ChatGPT and the Sora video app had also been slowed by a third party provider but were later back to normal.
A spokesperson said the outage originated from an automatically generated configuration file that expanded beyond expected limits, causing a software system in its network to crash. The company also observed a surge in unusual traffic shortly after 520 a.m. ET. Cloudflare stressed that there was no indication of malicious activity and apologized for the disruption given the importance of its infrastructure across the global web.
Recent cloud disruptions raise reliability concerns
Cloudflare supports roughly one fifth of the web, providing services that help businesses handle heavy traffic and defend against denial of service attacks. A failure within its network therefore affects a broad mix of unrelated platforms, similar to the widespread outage at Amazon Web Services last month and the global disruption that hit Microsoft Azure and 365 services. Shares of Cloudflare slid more than 2 percent as the company worked to restore full stability.
The incident also follows a major outage in July 2024 linked to a faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which halted flights and affected hospitals and financial services. Analysts say the latest disruption underscores the growing dependence on a small set of cloud providers whose systems have become critical to daily internet operations. Cloudflare said it will continue monitoring the situation to ensure all services remain stable.
