We will be cruising at 35,000 feet and failing to update our Apache HTTP Server
- Reference: 1767087912
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/30/update_apache_http_server/
- Source link:
Qualys CEO Sumedh Thakar [1]snapped a pair of whoopsies that popped up on the screen of his in-flight entertainment (IFE) system earlier this year: one is a typical web server fail. The other suggests MySQL connection difficulties.
Aircraft IFE systems are not connected directly to the airplane's avionics, which is handy, considering that Thakar's screen showed a decidedly ancient version of Apache in use. In this case, version 2.0.42.
[2]
[3]
[4]
It has been almost 13 years since security support for version 2.0 of the Apache HTTP Server ended. The final release was in July 2013, by which time the team had moved on to bigger and better things. The IFE, however, has not. In fact, version 2.0.42 first appeared in September 2002.
To put that in context, Windows XP had been released just the year before, and movie-goers were being delighted by Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Apple's iPhone had yet to trouble shoppers, although its iPod had been on the shelves for almost a year. Indeed, it was the first BlackBerry smartphone (the 5810) that was the phone to have for the irritating professional.
[5]Honored guest Bork visits Warsaw, Poland
[6]Microsoft blanks out BSODs on public displays with new 'Digital Signage mode'
[7]Bork ends where it began. At McDonald's, home of the finest bork product
[8]A Whopper of a bork for seekers of pre-flight nosh
Time has moved on. BlackBerry is no more, having been thoroughly stomped on by, among other things, Apple's iPhone, and the rolling hills of the Windows XP default desktop are more likely to trigger waves of nostalgia than anything else. However, in the never-updated world of the IFE, 2002 lives on.
[9]
And then there are those MySQL connection problems, which hint that this might be a Thales system. The company, after all, [10]declares that its IFE experience makes for "a journey filled with unique experiences."
We're not sure if running a long-obsolete version of Apache HTTP Server and filling a screen with connection errors is quite the unique experience the passenger has in mind. However, considering Airbus's recent brush with [11]avionic borkage , perhaps replacing the in-flight movies with a MySQL horror show or Apache thriller isn't such a bad thing after all. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sumedhthakar_saw-this-on-my-flight-entertainment-screen-activity-7393903607428997121-yGvi
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aVOw03TX7jwD_MtPnvaUuAAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVOw03TX7jwD_MtPnvaUuAAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aVOw03TX7jwD_MtPnvaUuAAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/bork_comes_to_poland/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/18/windows_bsod_digital_signage_mode/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/05/bork/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/17/bork/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVOw03TX7jwD_MtPnvaUuAAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/news-centre/press-releases/thales-flytedge-digitally-remasters-inflight-entertainment-experience
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/a320_software_rollback/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
and the system is quite air-gapped most of the time.
If it works, don't fix it
There is really no purpose served by taking a plane out of service just to update the IFE[1]. The borkage shown here boils down to misconfiguration, which happens no mater what vintage the executable happens to be.
[1] Especially as the bright young thing that comes in to handle the update will start by telling you that all the fashionable aircraft now have individual Android tablets in the seatbacks, so let's just rip out all these dreary old displays. What? No, no, passengers will love the new touchscreens, they won't ever stop responding after being steamed up the coffee and keeping yourself absolutely still so you don't accidentally touch it and restart the movie from the Pearl & Dean reel, again, is all part of the experience.
FFS, have you actually seen it?
" ...and movie-goers were being delighted by Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. "
[1]No they weren't!
Not to start any conspiracy theories here, but I'd rather have my IFE display error messages from outdated software than that movie. I'd personally try to break it to prevent AotC being shown, actually... Hmm...
[1] https://www.slashfilm.com/582382/worst-star-wars-movie-survey/
Re: FFS, have you actually seen it?
Beat me to it! --->
Re: FFS, have you actually seen it?
LotR The Two Towers came out in 2002, which would have been a far better example.
The host "p1d1-v109" sounds like some kind of virtualized system. Maybe it's an old docker container running inside a more modern system?
Still, running Apache 2.0.x suggests that this setup has not been maintained for a last decade or so but the potential damage should be limited to one virtual machine / container at worst.
"a journey filled with unique experiences."
Ending up at the bottom of a remote part of the Indian Ocean could easilly qualify as a unique experience but is not exactly a sought after in·flight experience.
No excuses but I'm guessing that the paperwork associated with updating anything in a commercial aircraft fleet makes updates expensive so they don't bother.