Bug 283017 – bugs.webkit.org is currently feeding SEO AI spam mills (add rel=nofollow to user-generated content on Bugzilla)

• Status: RESOLVED
• Resolution: FIXED
• Component: Tools / Tests

[Sam Sneddon [:gsnedders]]

Originally filed at https://github.com/WebKit/Documentation/issues/107:

(I had no idea where to report this, so out of desperation I'm posting here. Can someone please forward this on to the relevant team member?)

Please add the `rel="nofollow"` attribute to all `<a>` tags in comments on `bugs.webkit.org`. Spammers are using it as part of an automated SEO spam pipeline. Here's an example:

* https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=201483

> The "IndexedDB: Connection to Indexed Database server lost" error can be frustrating, but it's not insurmountable. Before diving into the details, I’d like to recommend an interesting read on the psychology behind online games, which you can find here: hxxps // easyreadernews [dot] com / the-game-psychology-behind-australian-online-pokies-real-money Now, let's get into the topic at hand. By understanding the potential causes and taking proactive steps, both users and developers can minimize the impact of this issue.

(I've purposely 'broken' the link in this quote - the comment has an actual `<a>` tag.)

The `bugs.webkit.org` domain would likely have very high "authority", so this is a very "valuable" target for malicious actors.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/139754556>

[Sam Sneddon [:gsnedders]]

See also: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1355100 (comparable issue for BMO), fixed in https://github.com/mozilla-bteam/bmo/commit/effcc512d (also https://github.com/bugzilla/harmony/commit/effcc512d in Harmony).

[[e-mail]]

Jon, David, Alexey, please chim in if this is something we need to fix. Maybe it could go to the new codes.

[Sam Sneddon [:gsnedders]]

Pull request: https://github.com/WebKit/WebKit/pull/36565

[EWS]

Committed 286567@main (f565c1515bb8): <https://commits.webkit.org/286567@main>

Reviewed commits have been landed. Closing PR #36565 and removing active labels.