That fix seems a bit extravagant.
I think a quicker and easier solution would be to have the router or the webserver's iptables drop all traffic except for a manageable amount, and replace the code that checked for an update with a static document saying "yes, this fixed version here: " so apache* could serve it instantly.
Then expand the allowed traffic a block at a time until everything is allowed.
Also fixing the apache config to not allow too many simultaneous connections would help.
* or whatever
Biting the hand that feeds IT
