Intermittent import issue with Google Groups Query API

Update timeline

1. resolved Sep 22, 2025, 06:21 PM UTC

   We have identified an issue with the Google Groups Query API, which is returning inconsistent or incomplete group data. This transient API issue can result in unintended group deletion of those groups in Okta. As a workaround, we have implemented a protective measure to prevent accidental deletion during group imports from Google. When a large volume of group deletions is detected, the import is stopped to protect against importing bad data. Customers with a verified, legitimate need for a mass deletion can contact Support to enable a temporary override for this limit. Our team is collaborating with our third-party provider to implement a permanent fix, and a Root Cause Analysis will be forthcoming.

2. resolved Oct 23, 2025, 02:52 AM UTC

   Incident start: September 15, 2025 Incident resolved: September 25, 2025 Detection: Okta was alerted to the issue after customers reported that groups managed by Google Workspace were being unexpectedly removed from Okta during the import process. Impact: Customers utilizing the Google Workspace integration may have experienced the following during this period: During scheduled or manual imports, groups (which still existed in Google Workspace) were unexpectedly removed from Okta. The unintended removal of groups may have resulted in a loss of application access for users who were members of the affected groups. Root Cause: The root cause was an issue within the Google Workspace Directory API, which Okta services rely on for group imports. The API intermittently returned incomplete lists of groups without correctly indicating that the data was partial. This led Okta services to interpret the incomplete data as the complete list of groups. As a result, any groups not included in the incomplete API response were processed as if they had been intentionally deleted in Google Workspace, leading to their removal within Okta as part of the import. Google acknowledged this API issue and deployed a resolution on or around September 25, 2025. Remediation Steps: Okta advised customers to pause all Google group imports until the third-party provider resolved the underlying issue. Preventive Actions: Okta Engineering implemented a proactive measure to automatically halt Google group imports when a large number of deletions is detected. This safeguard was put in place to avoid processing incomplete data and further unintended group removals. Further, Okta teams worked with Google as they worked to identify and resolve the underlying API issue.