Back to All Scenarios
PASSEDinfrastructure / ticketing_auto_escalation_loop
Ticketing Auto-Escalation Loop
The PSA ticketing system enters an auto-escalation loop where a ticket is escalated, triggers a workflow that reassigns it, which triggers another escalation, creating an infinite loop. The ticket generates 500+ email notifications and consumes the email sending quota.
Pattern
HIGH_CPU
Severity
CRITICAL
Confidence
95%
Remediation
Auto-Heal
Test Results
| Metric | Expected | Actual | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern Recognition | HIGH_CPU | HIGH_CPU | |
| Severity Assessment | CRITICAL | CRITICAL | |
| Incident Correlation | Yes | 7 linked | |
| Cascade Escalation | N/A | No | |
| Remediation | — | Auto-Heal — Corax resolves autonomously |
Scenario Conditions
ConnectWise Manage with auto-escalation rules. Ticket #INC-4521 hits escalation criteria. Escalation triggers reassignment workflow. Reassignment triggers re-escalation. Loop generates 500+ emails in 30 minutes. Email sending quota exhausted. Other ticket notifications blocked.
Injected Error Messages (1)
PSA ticketing auto-escalation loop detected — ticket INC-4521 caught in infinite escalation-reassignment cycle, 500+ notification emails generated in 30 minutes, email sending quota exhausted, all other ticket notifications blocked, PSA workflow engine CPU at 100% processing recursive triggers, 47 technicians receiving duplicate escalation emails every 3 seconds
Neural Engine Root Cause Analysis
PSA ticketing system ticket INC-4521 is caught in an infinite escalation-reassignment loop, causing recursive workflow triggers that are consuming 100% CPU and generating 500+ notification emails. This creates a cascading failure where the email quota is exhausted, blocking all other ticket notifications, while the workflow engine becomes unresponsive due to CPU saturation from processing the endless loop. The root cause is likely a misconfigured escalation rule or corrupted ticket state that creates a circular dependency in the assignment logic.
Remediation Plan
1. Immediately disable auto-escalation workflows to break the infinite loop 2. Kill/suspend the specific workflow processes handling ticket INC-4521 3. Restart the PSA workflow engine service to clear CPU saturation 4. Manually break the escalation loop by either closing ticket INC-4521 or updating its assignment to a valid state 5. Reset the email sending quota or wait for quota refresh 6. Re-enable auto-escalation workflows with monitoring 7. Review and fix the escalation rule configuration that caused the loop
Tested: 2026-03-30Monitors: 1 | Incidents: 1Test ID: cmnck3qic06hwobqerbu9j5yl