| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident of Tesla's mobile app outage has happened again within the same organization. The incident was a repeat of a similar outage that occurred last year, attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff [Article 121244].
(b) The software failure incident of Tesla's mobile app outage has also happened at other organizations or with their products and services. The outage monitoring website Downdetector reported that about 500 users faced an error during the outage, with reports coming from Tesla owners in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia [Article 120874]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the Tesla app outage was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, which was a contributing factor introduced during system development or system updates [Article 121244]. Elon Musk mentioned that they may have accidentally increased verbosity of network traffic, indicating a potential issue during the development or update phase [Article 120874].
(b) The operation of the Tesla app was impacted as drivers reported being unable to connect to their vehicles in-app for around five hours, leading to drivers being temporarily stranded and unable to unlock or start their cars [Article 121244]. This failure was due to contributing factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system, as users heavily rely on the app for accessing their vehicles and faced difficulties when the app was not functioning properly. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident with Tesla's mobile app was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff [Article 121244]. Elon Musk mentioned that they accidentally increased the verbosity of network traffic, leading to the outage [Article 120874]. Additionally, the outage was linked to a new update to Tesla's mobile app released earlier that week, suggesting an internal system change contributed to the failure [Article 121244].
(b) outside_system: The software failure incident was not explicitly attributed to factors originating from outside the system in the articles. The outage was mainly described as a result of internal changes or errors made by Tesla staff [Article 121244]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in the Tesla app outage was primarily due to non-human actions. Elon Musk mentioned that the issue was caused by accidentally increasing the verbosity of network traffic, leading to the outage [Article 120874]. Additionally, the outage was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, indicating a non-human factor contributing to the failure [Article 121244].
(b) Human actions also played a role in the software failure incident. The accidental network change made by Tesla staff was a human action that contributed to the outage affecting hundreds of Tesla drivers worldwide [Article 121244]. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, directly engaged with the problem online and apologized for the issue, indicating human involvement in addressing the failure [Article 121244]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The articles do not mention any hardware-related issues contributing to the software failure incident. Therefore, it is unknown if the incident was caused by hardware-related factors.
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- The software failure incident in the articles was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, leading to an outage in the Tesla mobile app [Article 121244].
- Elon Musk mentioned that the issue was caused by accidentally increasing the verbosity of network traffic, indicating a software-related cause for the failure [Article 120874]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Tesla app outage was non-malicious. The incident was attributed to accidental network changes by Tesla staff, which led to the outage affecting hundreds of drivers worldwide [Article 120874, Article 121244]. Elon Musk also acknowledged the issue and apologized for the inconvenience caused, indicating that the failure was not intentional but rather a result of unintended changes in the network configuration [Article 120874, Article 121244]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Tesla app outage was primarily due to accidental decisions made by Tesla staff. Elon Musk mentioned that the outage was caused by accidentally increasing the verbosity of network traffic, leading to the app server outage [Article 120874]. Additionally, the fault was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, which affected hundreds of drivers worldwide [Article 121244]. These incidents highlight how unintended decisions or mistakes can lead to software failures. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence:
- The incident was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, indicating a potential lack of professional competence in managing network configurations [Article 121244].
(b) The software failure incident occurring accidentally:
- Elon Musk mentioned that the outage was due to accidentally increased verbosity of network traffic, indicating that the failure was introduced accidentally [Article 120874].
- The fault was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, suggesting that the incident was accidental in nature [Article 121244]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident related to the Tesla app outage was temporary. The outage lasted for around five hours, during which hundreds of Tesla drivers were temporarily stranded and unable to unlock or start their cars [Article 121244]. Elon Musk mentioned that the issue was being addressed and that measures would be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again [Article 120874]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the articles can be categorized as a crash. Tesla drivers were locked out of their cars and unable to unlock or start their vehicles due to an issue with the Tesla mobile app, which resulted in the system losing its state and not performing its intended functions [120874, 121244].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can also be categorized as an omission. Drivers reported being unable to connect to their vehicles through the app, indicating that the system omitted to perform its intended functions at that instance [121244].
(c) timing: The software failure incident does not align with a timing failure as the system was not performing its intended functions too late or too early [unknown].
(d) value: The software failure incident does not align with a value failure as the system was not performing its intended functions incorrectly [unknown].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident does not align with a byzantine failure as the system was not behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions [unknown].
(f) other: The other behavior observed in this software failure incident is that the outage was attributed to an accidental network change by Tesla staff, which led to the system losing its state and not performing its intended functions, causing inconvenience to the Tesla drivers [120874, 121244]. |