- On Nov 18, 2025, Cloudflare experienced a major outage causing websites to display “please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed.”
- Downdetector showed incident spikes across ChatGPT, X, Canva, Perplexity, and banking and enterprise services.
- The issue began with a routing configuration failure, disrupting Cloudflare’s bot-protection and zero-trust layer.
- Users often assumed their browser or antivirus was at fault—but the problem was mostly on the server side.
- The outage highlights how dependent the modern internet is on a few major infrastructure players—and how a single failure can ripple worldwide.
On November 18, 2025, the internet experienced a global disruption that left millions locked out of websites and apps they use every day. Whenever they tried to access a service, they saw a confusing message:
please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed
At first, users assumed something was wrong with their computer or browser. Many refreshed the page repeatedly, cleared cookies, restarted devices, or switched browsers. None of it helped.
The real cause was much bigger.
Cloudflare, one of the most widely used security and routing services on the internet, went down. When its verification system failed, websites could not confirm users as legitimate visitors. As a result, they showed that error message instead of loading normally.
The outage was large enough that Downdetector registered huge activity spikes across:
- ChatGPT
- Canva
- Perplexity
- X (Twitter)
- E-commerce websites
- Online banking portals
- Thousands of smaller business sites
Cloudflare later confirmed the issue was caused by a global routing problem triggered by a configuration update. It affected authentication, bot filtering, and browser verification systems, which created the blockage users saw on-screen.
What the Error Actually Means
When you see please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed, it usually means:
- Your browser asked for a page
- Cloudflare tried to run a verification challenge
- The challenge could not load
- The browser request was blocked by default
Normally this process happens instantly and invisibly. But during the outage, the verification service itself went offline.
What this error is NOT
It is not caused by:
- A virus
- Hacking
- A browser infection
- Local computer issues
It is a server-side failure. The website you requested couldn’t verify your session because Cloudflare’s security modules were unavailable.
What Went Wrong Inside Cloudflare
Cloudflare publicly acknowledged that one of their routing updates created unstable behavior in part of their global network. According to their engineering breakdown:
- A new configuration was deployed
- One region began failing
- The failure spread across connected routing paths
- Critical systems like CAPTCHA challenges and session verification stopped responding
Since Cloudflare supplies services for more than 76 million websites, even a small internal problem can ripple across the entire internet.
The timeline, based on Cloudflare reports:
- 2:18 PM UTC: Error signals began showing up
- 2:33 PM UTC: Broader failures detected
- 3:10 PM UTC: Cloudflare confirmed the issue publicly
- 4:00 PM UTC: Rollbacks began
- ~5:00 PM UTC: Most areas recovered
Source: Cloudflare Blog (Nov 18, 2025)
This shows how quickly an infrastructure issue can scale when the affected platform sits at the center of global internet security.
Who Felt the Outage the Most
While everyone felt the effects, three groups were hit the hardest.
1. ChatGPT users
ChatGPT depends on Cloudflare to authenticate user sessions. Because the verification service was offline:
- Login pages looped endlessly
- Verification screens returned blank
- Users were locked out even with correct credentials
Students, writers, and developers all shared the same frustration:
“It looks like my account is broken.”
In reality, their accounts were fine. The security handshake was just failing upstream.
2. Small business websites
This group experienced quiet but serious damage.
Cloudflare protects independent websites such as:
- Freelancers
- Small e-commerce shops
- Local agencies
- Coaching and membership sites
When their pages wouldn’t load, they couldn’t:
- Sell products
- Receive leads
- Process payments
- Deliver online sessions
One creator commented in a tech forum:
“I troubleshot for 30 minutes before realizing it wasn’t me. I lost a dozen sales while the page refused to load.”
Centralisation is efficient. But when a core point fails, the smallest companies often carry the cost silently.
3. Major platforms and apps
Users on X, Canva, and Perplexity all reported failures. Downdetector showed massive spikes in India, the US, and Europe within minutes.
This shows how much of daily online activity passes through Cloudflare without users thinking about it.
How the Internet Reacted
Social platforms filled with jokes and sarcasm.
One user wrote on X:
“Cloudflare broke the internet and wants me to unblock it. Sure, let me reboot the planet.”
Another said:
“If challenges.cloudflare.com is blocked, how am I supposed to unblock the thing that is blocking me?”
Behind the jokes was a real anxiety:
People realized how little they control. When infrastructure providers break, users are stranded without any personal ability to fix it.
How to Fix the Error If You See It Again
Although the November 2025 case was a Cloudflare issue, users can still try several practical steps.
Step 1: Check if Cloudflare is actually down
Before changing anything:
- Search Cloudflare on Downdetector
- Visit Cloudflare’s status page
If outages are confirmed, the problem is not your device.
Step 2: Try another browser
Sometimes the challenge fails because of blockers or scripts.
If Chrome fails, try Firefox or Safari. If it loads there, the issue is browser settings.
Step 3: Disable aggressive blockers
Some tools can interfere with verification, such as:
- uBlock Origin
- Ghostery
- Pi-hole
- Brave Shields
- AdGuard
Turn them off temporarily and refresh the page.
Step 4: Clear DNS
- Windows:
- ipconfig /flushdns
- macOS:
- sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Step 5: Change DNS
Switch to:
- Google DNS: 8.8.8.8
- Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1
- NextDNS
A good DNS provider can bypass cached bad routes.
Step 6: If it’s global, wait
If the outage is widespread, nothing local will fix the error. The solution must come from Cloudflare’s infrastructure team.
Why This Outage Matters for the Internet’s Future
This wasn’t only a temporary inconvenience. It exposed several deeper problems.
1. Centralization is a genuine risk
A few companies now carry huge chunks of global web traffic. When one falters, the whole ecosystem shakes.
2. Security systems can become failure points
In this case:
- The platform meant to protect websites
- Prevented access to them
As systems get smarter, they also get more complicated and more fragile.
3. More outages are inevitable
Modern networks rely on automated global deployments. A single bad update can cascade faster than teams can manually control.
Because of that, companies may need to:
- Roll out changes region by region
- Use “circuit breakers”
- Build more fallback routes
4. Users are becoming more informed
A decade ago, a message like this would confuse most people.
Now, users immediately:
- Check Downdetector
- Verify outage reports
- Post evidence online
Internet literacy is evolving.
Did you see the please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed error during the outage?
Share:
- Where were you
- What site were you accessing
- How long it lasted for you
Your experience helps map the real-world impact of outages like this.
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FAQ
It means Cloudflare could not load the verification script it uses to confirm whether a visitor is legitimate.
No. It is almost always caused by Cloudflare itself being unavailable or blocked.
Try switching browsers, disabling blockers, flushing DNS, or waiting if the outage is global.
Yes. ChatGPT, Canva, and X were among the services affected.
Absolutely. Founders save costs, scale faster, and pitch with investor-ready visuals. Early adopters gain a competitive edge in crowded markets.
Use Downdetector or Cloudflare’s official status site.
