424 Failed Dependency (RFC 4918, WebDAV) means the method could not be performed on the resource because it depended on another action, and that action failed. It usually appears inside a 207 Multi-Status response. A PROPPATCH is atomic, so if one property cannot be changed, for example because it is protected and returns 403, all other property changes in the same request are reported as 424.
Some APIs outside WebDAV use 424 to say that an upstream dependency failed, but that is not its standard meaning; 502 or 503 are usually clearer for upstream problems.
Example response
HTTP
HTTP/1.1 207 Multi-Status
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:15:32 GMT
Content-Type: application/xml; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 441
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<d:multistatus xmlns:d="DAV:" xmlns:z="urn:example:props">
<d:response>
<d:href>/docs/report.pdf</d:href>
<d:propstat>
<d:prop><d:getcontentlength/></d:prop>
<d:status>HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden</d:status>
</d:propstat>
<d:propstat>
<d:prop><z:author/></d:prop>
<d:status>HTTP/1.1 424 Failed Dependency</d:status>
</d:propstat>
</d:response>
</d:multistatus>SEO and redirect checking
No SEO impact: 424 appears in WebDAV and API workflows that crawlers do not use.
Common causes and use cases
- One property in a
PROPPATCHfailed, so the others were not applied and report 424. - A batch operation stops after an earlier step failed.
- An API reports that a required upstream service failed.