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DreamHost is resetting passwords for some email and FTP/SFTP users after an incident affecting webmail and other systems. As of the company’s Oct. 25 status update, affected users need their account owner to set and share new credentials, and the File Manager remains unavailable.
DreamHost says affected email and FTP/SFTP users cannot log in until the owner of their hosting account resets their passwords and provides new credentials, as the company responds to a service incident. In its Oct. 25, 2026, status update, DreamHost said it had emailed all impacted account holders instructions for the resets, but its File Manager at files.dreamhost.com remained unavailable.
The incident affected DreamHost’s Web Services and Email Services, with disruptions listed for the File Manager interface, email hosting and webmail. The company first reported investigation of a File Manager connectivity problem on Oct. 23. Later that day, it said some webmail users had been signed out or might encounter login errors, and that some email passwords would be reset as a precaution.
DreamHost’s instructions changed as the response progressed. On Oct. 23, it told affected customers to wait for the company’s reset process to finish before making changes, warning that earlier password changes could be overwritten. By Oct. 24, it said the reset for affected email and FTP/SFTP users was complete and account owners could set new passwords in the control panel. The company advised allowing up to 15 minutes for new passwords to take effect.
The latest update says affected users will remain unable to sign in until their account owner sets a replacement password and shares it with them. Owners can manage email passwords under Mail > Manage Email, and FTP/SFTP credentials under Websites > SFTP Users & Files in the DreamHost panel. DreamHost also said an error some Professional Email customers saw while changing passwords had been fixed; those customers were told to try again.
Access Depends on Account Owners
The reset affects more than access to a single website control: affected email users may need to update the password saved in webmail and in apps such as Outlook, Apple Mail or a phone’s mail client. FTP/SFTP users also need updated credentials to sign in. Until the account owner resets the password and passes it on, individual users may be unable to use those services.
The arrangement can take coordination, particularly where a business or organization has multiple mailbox or file-transfer users managed by one account owner. DreamHost’s status page does not say how many customers or users are affected, so the scale of the disruption cannot be established from the supplied updates. The company’s warning against sharing passwords by email links also matters during an incident that involves reset notifications: customers are directed to reach the control panel themselves.
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From File Manager Outage to Resets
DreamHost’s first supplied update, posted Oct. 23 at 2:20 p.m. PDT, said its operations team was investigating connectivity problems affecting the File Manager. At 5:20 p.m., the company reported a broader incident involving several services, said the File Manager was offline, and described webmail sign-in problems. It then announced precautionary password resets for some email accounts, later extending the reset response to affected FTP/SFTP users.
Updates on Oct. 24 described resets as underway and said account owners would receive instructions in batches. The company later said owners did not need to wait for those messages to change passwords through the control panel. The supplied latest update, dated Oct. 25 at 9:32 p.m. PDT, said all impacted account holders had been emailed and that work to restore the File Manager was continuing. DreamHost has not identified the cause of the incident in the status updates provided.
“We will never email you asking for your password.”
— DreamHost status page, Oct. 23, 2026, 5:20 p.m. PDT
Cause and Restoration Timing Unknown
DreamHost has not disclosed what caused the incident, whether it involved unauthorized access, or whether customer information was exposed. The status updates describe password resets as a precaution and report service disruptions, but they do not confirm a security breach. The number of affected accounts and the length of the File Manager outage are also not stated.
It is also unclear from the supplied updates whether all affected users have successfully regained access after account owners set new passwords. DreamHost says password changes can take up to 15 minutes to apply, but gives no separate estimate for restoring files.dreamhost.com.
Watch for File Manager Updates
DreamHost said it would post another status-page update when the File Manager is restored. Customers who are account owners can use the control panel to reset affected email and FTP/SFTP passwords; individual users should contact their account owner for new credentials. The company’s stated guidance is to go directly to panel.dreamhost.com rather than follow a link in an email, and not to provide a password in response to an email request.
Customers who previously received a “Failed to edit” error while changing a Professional Email password were told that the issue had been fixed and to try again. Further details on the incident’s cause, the full scope of affected accounts and service restoration remain pending in the supplied status information.
Key Questions
Who needs to reset a DreamHost password?
Account owners must set new passwords for affected email and FTP/SFTP users, then share the credentials with those users. The updates do not say that every DreamHost customer is affected.
Can affected users sign in with their old passwords?
DreamHost says affected users cannot log in until the account owner resets their passwords and shares the new credentials. A new password may take up to 15 minutes to take effect.
Is the DreamHost File Manager working?
Not according to the latest supplied update, posted Oct. 25 at 9:32 p.m. PDT. DreamHost said the File Manager at files.dreamhost.com remained unavailable and that work to restore it was continuing.
Has DreamHost confirmed a data breach?
No. The supplied status updates report a service incident and precautionary password resets, but do not identify the cause or confirm unauthorized access or data exposure.
How should customers handle reset notices?
DreamHost says it will never email users asking for their password and advises customers to go directly to panel.dreamhost.com to make changes. Its updates also say a password-reset email that was not requested can be ignored.
Source: hn
