| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident has happened again at one_organization:
- Cloudflare experienced another outage, disrupting services for various websites and online platforms [Article 129699].
(b) The software failure incident has happened again at multiple_organization:
- The incident affected a wide range of sites, including Discord, DoorDash, Fitbit, NordVPN, Peloton, OKX, FTX, and more, indicating that multiple organizations were impacted by the Cloudflare outage [Article 129699]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident mentioned in the articles was attributed to a "bad software" update that had been "rolled back" by Cloudflare, causing the internet wobble and disruptions in accessing websites [87325]. This indicates a failure related to the design phase, where contributing factors introduced during system development or updates led to the incident.
(b) The incident was also linked to a network change in some of Cloudflare's data centers, which caused a portion of their network to be unavailable, resulting in difficulties for customers in reaching websites and services relying on Cloudflare [129699]. This aspect points towards a failure related to the operation phase, where contributing factors introduced by the operation of the system led to the outage. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident was attributed to a "bad software" update that had been "rolled back" by Cloudflare, as mentioned by the company's chief technology officer [87325]. Additionally, Cloudflare reported that a "network change in some of our data centers" caused a portion of their network to be unavailable, indicating an internal system change that led to the outage [129699]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident was attributed to a "bad software" update that had been "rolled back" by Cloudflare, causing the disruption in services [87325]. Additionally, Cloudflare mentioned that the outage was caused by a "network change in some of our data centers" which led to a portion of their network being unavailable [129699].
(b) The incident was not the result of an attack, as Cloudflare denied speculation of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack and attributed the issue to a "bad software" update that had been rolled back [87325]. The company spokesperson also clarified that the outage was not due to an attack but rather a network change in some data centers [129699]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The incident was initially speculated to be a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which is a type of cyber attack that floods a system with traffic [87325].
- Cloudflare denied that the outage was the result of an attack and instead attributed it to a "network change in some of our data centers" [129699].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- Cloudflare mentioned that the incident was caused by a "bad software" update that had been "rolled back" [87325].
- The company stated that due to the nature of the incident, customers may have had difficulty reaching websites and services that rely on Cloudflare, indicating a software-related issue [129699]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident was non-malicious. Both articles [87325, 129699] mention that the outage experienced by Cloudflare was not the result of a malicious attack. In Article 87325, Cloudflare denied speculation of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack and attributed the incident to a "bad software" update that had been rolled back. Similarly, Article 129699 states that the outage was caused by a network change in some of Cloudflare's data centers, which made a portion of their network unavailable. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to Cloudflare's outage was not due to poor decisions but rather an accidental decision. The incident was caused by a network change in some of Cloudflare's data centers, which led to a portion of their network becoming unavailable [129699]. Cloudflare denied that the outage was the result of an attack and attributed it to an unintentional network change that disrupted services for various websites and online services [129699]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in Article 87325, where Cloudflare experienced a glitch that caused internet wobbling and disrupted access to many websites. The incident was attributed to a "bad software" update that had been "rolled back," indicating a failure introduced due to a lack of professional competence in managing software updates [87325].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is highlighted in Article 129699, where Cloudflare suffered an outage due to a network change in some of its data centers. The company clarified that the outage was not the result of an attack but rather an unintended consequence of a network change, indicating a failure introduced accidentally [129699]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles was temporary. The incident caused an outage that lasted for about an hour in the first article [87325] and from late Monday to early Tuesday in the second article [129699]. Both articles mention that the issues were resolved within a relatively short period of time after they were identified. |
| Behaviour |
crash, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident described in the articles can be categorized as a crash. Cloudflare experienced an outage that disrupted services for various websites, including Discord, DoorDash, Fitbit, NordVPN, Peloton, OKX, and FTX [129699]. Users faced problems accessing websites, and some received "502 errors" in their browsers, indicating a failure of the system to perform its intended functions [87325].
(b) omission: There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being due to the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) in the articles.
(c) timing: The incident does not seem to be related to the system performing its intended functions too late or too early.
(d) value: The software failure incident did result in incorrect data being provided to users. For example, CoinDesk received bad data from its providers, leading to misreporting of prices [87325].
(e) byzantine: The incident does not exhibit characteristics of the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions.
(f) other: The software failure incident could also be categorized as a network error, as Cloudflare mentioned that a "bad software" update had been "rolled back," causing the issue [87325]. |