Understanding Cloudflare — Roles, Outage, and Implications
What Cloudflare Does
Cloudflare is one of the world’s leading Internet-infrastructure and cybersecurity companies. It provides essential services that keep websites fast, secure, and available.
- DNS (Domain Name System) — directing users to the correct servers when they access a website.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN) — ensuring content loads quickly by distributing it across global servers.
- Reverse-Proxy Security — protecting websites from attacks by filtering traffic before they reach the origin server.
- Performance & Reliability Enhancements — caching, load balancing, and DDoS protection.
When a DNS record is proxied through Cloudflare, users connect first to Cloudflare’s global anycast network. Cloudflare then forwards the request to the website’s origin server. This setup provides speed, resilience, and security.
Cloudflare reports that around 20% of all websites worldwide rely on its infrastructure, meaning issues on Cloudflare often ripple across the internet.
Roles & Permissions at Cloudflare
Cloudflare uses a structured access-control system to determine who can manage different parts of a website or network.
Why this matters:
- It enforces the principle of least privilege.
- It simplifies admin tasks by grouping permissions into roles.
- It enhances security and auditability.
- Poorly configured permissions can cause internal risks or errors.
The Global Cloudflare Outage — November 18, 2025
On November 18, 2025, Cloudflare suffered a major global outage affecting millions of users and major platforms worldwide.
Timeline & Impact
- Outage began around 06:40 a.m. ET (≈ 11:40 UTC).
- Services affected included ChatGPT, X (Twitter), Nike, IKEA, gaming platforms, and transit systems like NJ Transit.
- A fix was applied around midday ET, with continued monitoring.
Root Cause
A bug in the logic generating a Bot-Management configuration file caused Cloudflare systems to fail. A spike in unusual traffic worsened the disruption.
Why This Was Significant
- Cloudflare powers a large section of global internet infrastructure.
- When it goes down, many dependent services simultaneously fail.
- The incident highlights risks in over-centralized internet infrastructure.
Cloudflare’s Response
- Some services, including Warp in London, were temporarily disabled.
- Cloudflare publicly apologized: “We failed our customers and the broader internet earlier today.”
- No malicious activity was found; investigations continue.
Impact on Teachers & KNEC Examiners
The KNEC Examiners Portal depends on Cloudflare for DNS and proxying. During an outage, DNS resolution may fail, making the portal unreachable.
Immediate Result: Invitation letters and login services may temporarily be unavailable.
Advice: Try alternative networks, clear DNS cache, or wait for Cloudflare propagation to stabilize.