Microsoft MFA Down – 504 Gateway Timeout Errors Disrupting MFA Access for U.S. Users

Microsoft is currently investigating a significant service degradation affecting Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across its Microsoft 365 suite, with users in the North America region reporting widespread 504 gateway timeout errors when attempting to authenticate into MFA-protected services.

The incident, tracked under issue ID MO1237461, began at approximately 8:22 PM IST (2:52 PM UTC) on February 23, 2026, and remains under active investigation.

Users attempting to complete MFA challenges are encountering 504 Gateway Timeout responses, effectively blocking access to Microsoft 365 applications, portals, and any downstream services that rely on MFA as part of their authentication flow.

The 504 error indicates that an upstream server, in this case, likely within Microsoft’s authentication infrastructure, is failing to respond within the expected time window, causing the gateway layer to return a timeout to the end user.

Microsoft confirmed…