Microsoft is currently undergoing a significant DNS outage that is affecting users worldwide, hindering their ability to log into corporate networks and access essential services such as Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. Reports from DownDetector and various social media platforms indicate that the outages began approximately one hour ago, prompting widespread server and connectivity issues for tens of thousands of users.
Affected services include the Intune and Azure portals along with the Exchange admin center, with some customers reporting that Microsoft’s Azure Front Door Content Delivery Network (CDN) is also experiencing downtime. Healthcare organizations and other sectors are notably impacted, with reports of authentication problems hampering employee access to company systems and online platforms.
This incident’s repercussions extend globally, disrupting services for major organizations such as the Dutch railway system, which is experiencing difficulties with its online travel planning tools and ticketing machines.
“We’re aware that the Provider Portal login is currently unavailable due to a Microsoft outage affecting authentication services,” stated a representative from one affected organization. “Our team is actively working to restore anything impacted and monitoring the progress as Microsoft Azure systems recover.”
Microsoft has attributed the ongoing service access problems to DNS complications, stating that users may encounter intermittent failures or delays when trying to access various services. The company noted that the problems began around 16:00 UTC, resulting in service degradation.
Customers attempting to access the Microsoft 365 admin center are also witnessing delays, and administrators are struggling with functions in Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Intune. An alert from the Microsoft 365 admin portal confirms that issues are also being experienced in Outlook regarding add-ins and network connectivity.
To assist users, Microsoft has directed them to the status.cloud.microsoft page for more information. However, even this resource is reportedly down during the outage.
Microsoft is currently reviewing issue reports related to Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 while analyzing service telemetry to identify the root cause of the problems. This disruption follows a significant AWS outage last week, which similarly affected numerous online services.
As of October 29, Microsoft confirmed that both the Azure Front Door CDN service and Azure Portal are down. They recommended utilizing programming methods like PowerShell or CLI for resource access if users cannot reach the portal directly.
The company shared that it is assessing failover options to mitigate further disruptions and is rerouting affected traffic to more stable infrastructure as a temporary fix while investigating the root cause of the DNS issues.
Subsequent updates revealed that a configuration change within Azure Front Door was likely the trigger for the outage. Microsoft is implementing restrictions on service changes while rolling back to a previous state to restore functionality.
By the afternoon of October 29, Microsoft anticipated full recovery within four hours and advised customers to employ failover strategies using Azure Traffic Manager during the outage. Microsoft confirmed by the morning of October 30 that the configuration change linked to the outage had been reverted and that the situation was under control.
Post-recovery, Microsoft acknowledged that the outage had impacted several areas, including Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Power Apps, Microsoft Defender functions, and caused connectivity issues within Microsoft Teams and Outlook, particularly affecting functions crucial in emergencies.
Despite the challenges, Microsoft’s proactive approach in addressing the issues and communicating updates demonstrates an commitment to restoring services efficiently, instilling hope for a swift resolution for all affected users.