Users worldwide are seeing the message “Please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed” after a major Cloudflare disruption on Nov 18, 2025.
Affected
The error appeared on major platforms including ChatGPT (OpenAI), X (Twitter), and even outage tracker DownDetector.
Cause
Cloudflare’s challenge-platform (used for verifying visitors) seems to be malfunctioning, triggering challenge pages instead of serving normal content.
User Reports
On Reddit, users confirm the error across browsers - > “Cloudflare is down globally… challenges.cloudflare.com is not blocked, it’s broken.”
Troubleshoot
To possibly fix, disable browser extensions like ad-blockers or VPNs, enable JavaScript, clear cookies, and refresh the page.
Browser Check
Make sure you're using a modern browser-Cloudflare challenges aren't well-supported on older browsers like Internet Explorer.
Network Tip
Switch networks if possible. Some users fixed the issue by moving from shared Wi-Fi or VPN to their mobile data network.
Challenge Type
Cloudflare uses different challenges (Managed, Interactive, JS) to verify users, depending on security rules.
Error Codes
Some users may see error codes like “200500: Loading error” when the Turnstile iframe fails to load - often due to strict content-security or blocked iframes.
Cloudflare Role
Only website owners can change Cloudflare’s challenge settings. Users cannot ‘unblock’ challenges.cloudflare.com - it's part of Cloudflare’s security infrastructure.