The internet experienced a significant disruption on November 18, 2025, when Cloudflare, a leading provider of internet infrastructure services, faced a major outage. The incident, which began at 11:20 UTC, affected numerous websites and services, including popular platforms like X and ChatGPT. This outage underscored the critical role that Cloudflare plays in maintaining the stability of the internet, as its services underpin thousands of websites and applications globally.
The outage, which lasted for several hours, was caused by an automatically generated configuration file used to manage threat traffic. This file, intended to handle malicious traffic, failed to function as expected, leading to widespread disruptions. The issue was exacerbated by a hard limit of 200 machine-learning features in a Rust service, which preallocated memory for these features, further complicating the problem.
Cloudflare's engineering teams worked diligently to resolve the issue, and by November 19, 2025, the services were reported to be operating normally. The company issued an update stating that elevated errors and latency across the network had been addressed, and normal operations had resumed.
The outage highlighted the vulnerabilities in the current internet infrastructure, particularly the reliance on a few key providers like Cloudflare. As the internet continues to evolve, the importance of robust and resilient infrastructure becomes increasingly apparent. Companies like Cloudflare must continue to invest in advanced technologies and robust systems to prevent such disruptions in the future.
In the aftermath of the outage, Cloudflare has taken steps to improve its infrastructure and prevent similar incidents. The company has issued a postmortem report detailing the root cause of the outage and the measures taken to address it. This transparency is crucial for maintaining trust with users and ensuring that the internet remains a reliable and stable platform for all.
