The digital marketing landscape is in constant flux, and security is always top of mind. Recently, Salesforce implemented an urgent security update within Marketing Cloud Engagement (SFMC) that, while essential for protecting customer data, has created an urgent challenge for digital teams: fixing links that are now broken.
This isn’t a configuration error on your side. It’s the result of a platform-wide security enhancement from Salesforce that demanded immediate attention to prevent both consumer disruption and potential compliance issues.
What happened?
On January 21, 2026 (23:00 UTC), Salesforce applied a critical security patch to address high-severity vulnerabilities they identified. This update resulted in the following:
- All legacy wrapped/tracked links sent before January 21, 2026, have been invalidated. This includes tracked URLs in emails, CloudPages links, unsubscribe, and preference center links that were generated and delivered through SFMC. Recipients who click the invalidated links will be directed to an error message.
- Emails sent after January 21, 2026, are secure and unaffected, as they utilize the new, compliant tracking format. This includes emails in active, ongoing journeys that are delivering messages.
How to take action:
- Resend Critical or Time Sensitive Communications: Messages like event invitations, offer redemption codes, appointment confirmations, marketing consent updates should be resent to the same recipients.
- Create Custom Redirects: For landing pages using CloudPages or preference center links, create a custom redirect taking the old link formatting and redirecting to the new, compliant tracked formating.
- Notify your team: Prepare a script or talking points in case recipients contact you about broken links in older emails. You can reassure them that this is the result of a platform-wide security update from Salesforce, and direct them to any updated resources (e.g., your current website or preference center).
Not sure how this impacts you? We can help!
We are closely monitoring this change and are ready to assist. If you’d like us to review your recent sends or prepare resend lists, or any analysis of your org, please contact us. We can schedule a quick call to discuss specific campaigns if needed.
