Cyber Security Threat Summary:
Microsoft is investigating an ongoing issue preventing Outlook[.]com users from searching their emails and triggering 401 exception errors. When searching, users see an error saying, "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later." "Our initial review of Outlook[.]com server logs, in parallel with HTTP Archive format (HAR) logs captured during an internal reproduction of impact, indicates 401 errors are occurring due to an exception when users attempt to perform the search," Microsoft says on the service health portal. "We're continuing to investigate to confirm the source generating these exception errors and determine methods to remediate impact.

The outage started almost 11 hours ago, at 12:30 AM UTC, and Microsoft is expected to provide more details within the next couple of hours. According to user reports, the search function is no longer working on the web, while the mobile version doesn't seem affected. Others have reported having issues when contacting Microsoft 365 personal support, being caught in a loop of sign-in and Office 365 service choice prompts” (BleepingComputer, 2023).

Suggested Correction(s):
Microsoft is currently investigating this bug that has been reported by users. The bug currently impacts the email search function. Microsoft has not provided any specific information regarding the regions affected by the ongoing outage. On June 27, Microsoft addressed another issue that affected its customers across the Americas, which prevented them from accessing their Exchange Online mailbox through Outlook on the web. Earlier in June, Microsoft confirmed that some of its services, including Outlook[.]com, the Azure Portal, and OneDrive, experienced disruptions due to DDoS attacks claimed by a threat actor known as Anonymous Sudan, who is believed to have Russian ties.

Suggested Correction(s):
Microsoft is actively working to resolve these issues and apologizes for any inconvenience caused to its users. We will continue to monitor and alert members as we learn more.

Link(s):
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/