KK 7.09 / multiple httpds repeatedly forking

Why is my X-WRT on OpenWRT Kamakaze 7.09
with matrixtunnel ssl, dropbear, CIFS, and OpenVPN
spending 20% of its CPU power forking httpd's on port 80,
when there is already one (process 469 below) on port 80?

It sounds like a configuration problem, wherein
httpd is unhappy and keeps trying to fork itself.

Here is the httpd config file:

File: /etc/httpd.conf
/cgi-bin/webif/:root:$p$root
/cgi-bin/webif/:admin:$p$root
.asp:text/html
.svg:image/svg+xml
.png:image/png
.gif:image/gif
.jpg:image/jpg
.js:application/x-javascript

==
here is a sample process table below, taken while
a cpu graph was running on another browser page:

Processes Status
PID    Uid    VmSize    Stat    Command
1    root    400    S    init
2    root       SW    [keventd]
3    root       RWN    [ksoftirqd_CPU0]
4    root       SW    [kswapd]
5    root       SW    [bdflush]
6    root       SW    [kupdated]
8    root       SW    [mtdblockd]
53    root       SWN    [jffs2_gcd_mtd4]
66    root    408    S    logger -s -p 6 -t
69    root    404    S    init
77    root    388    S    /sbin/syslogd -C16 -m 0
81    root    372    S    /sbin/klogd
294    root       SW    [cifsoplockd]
436    root    372    S    crond -c /etc/crontabs
448    root    408    S    /usr/sbin/dropbear -p 22
454    root    448    S    udhcpc -t 0 -i eth0.1 -b -p /var/run/eth0.1.pid -R
469    root    428    R    httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
499    root    416    S    /usr/bin/matrixtunnel -A /etc/ssl/matrixtunnel.cert -p /etc/ssl/matrixtunnel.key -d 443 -r 127.0.0.1 80 -P /var/run/webifssl.pid
1325    nobody    444    S    /usr/sbin/dnsmasq -K --dhcp-range=lan,192.168.ZZZ.100,192.168.ZZZ.250,255.255.255.0,720m -I eth0.1
5635    root    480    S    httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5636    root    260    S    /usr/bin/webif-page /www/cgi-bin/webif/status-processes.sh
5637    root    404    S    sh -c /usr/bin/haserl /www/cgi-bin/webif/status-processes.sh
5638    root    268    S    /usr/bin/haserl /www/cgi-bin/webif/status-processes.sh
5639    root    536    S    /bin/sh
5652    root       Z    [sh]
5665    root       Z    [sh]
5671    root    472    S    httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5672    root       htt    pd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5673    root       htt    pd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5674    root       htt    pd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5675    root    472    R    httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
5676    root    432    R    httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt

===
here are the Installed Packages:

Action   Package   Version   Description
Uninstall   base-files-brcm-2.4   10-12369
Uninstall   bridge   1.0.6-1
Uninstall   busybox   1.4.2-2
Uninstall   cifsmount   1.5-2
Uninstall   dnsmasq   2.39-1
Uninstall   dropbear   0.50-2
Uninstall   haserl   0.8.0-2
Uninstall   iptables   1.3.7-1
Uninstall   kernel   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-brcm-wl   2.4.34+4.80.53.0-1
Uninstall   kmod-diag   2+2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-fs-cifs   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-ipt-nathelper   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-ppp   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-pppoe   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-switch   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-tun   2.4.34-brcm-1
Uninstall   kmod-wlcompat   2.4.34+brcm-6
Uninstall   libgcc   3.4.6-10
Uninstall   liblzo   2.02-1
Uninstall   libmatrixssl   1.2.4-1
Uninstall   libopenssl   0.9.8e-1
Uninstall   libpthread   0.9.28-10
Uninstall   matrixtunnel   0.2-1
Uninstall   mtd   5
Uninstall   nas   4.80.53.0-1
Uninstall   ntpclient   2003_194-4
Uninstall   nvram   1
Uninstall   openvpn   2.0.9-2
Uninstall   ppp   2.4.3-8
Uninstall   ppp-mod-pppoe   2.4.3-8
Uninstall   uclibc   0.9.28-10
Uninstall   webif   0.3-12
Uninstall   wireless-tools   29-1
Uninstall   wlc   4.80.53.0-1
Uninstall   wol   0.7.1-2
Uninstall   zlib   1.2.3-4