2010 User-Agent Blacklist
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The 2010 User-Agent Blacklist blocks hundreds of bad bots while ensuring open-access for the major search engines: Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo, et al. Blocking bad user-agents is an effective addition to any security strategy. It works like this: your site is getting hammered by rogue bots that waste valuable server resources and bandwidth. So you grab a copy of the 2010 UA Blacklist from Perishable Press, include it in your site’s root .htaccess file, and enjoy better security and performance. It’s that easy.
Proven Security
The 2010 UA Blacklist has been carefully constructed based on rigorous server-log analyses. Obsessive daily log monitoring reveals bad bots scanning for exploits, spamming resources, and wasting bandwidth. While analyzing malicious behavior, evil bots are identified and added to the UA Blacklist. Blocked user-agents are denied access to your site, increasing efficiency and providing safety for your visitors.
Better Performance, Better SEO
Search engines such as Google are placing more weight on speedy, fast-loading websites. If your site is plagued with resource-devouring, bandwidth-wasting bots, it’s performance is probably not as good as it should be. Even if your site looks fine on the surface, without proper protection bad bots can gobble your bandwidth and leech your server resources. A single malicious bot can make hundreds and thousands of requests in a very short period of time while scanning and probing for vulnerabilities. If Google visits while bad bots are hitting your site, your site’s SEO could suffer. Fortunately, the 2010 UA Blacklist protects your site against hundreds of nefarious bots, thereby fostering maximum performance for the search engines.
2010 User-Agent Blacklist
Here it is, presented as two sets of HTAccess directives:
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(127\.0\.0\.0|localhost) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} .*(Firs|exac|Cloak|Detect|uchoo|beaut|ASPSeek|swish|ICS\)|MSIE\ 6\.0\;\ Windows\ NT\;\ DigExt\)|pt\-BR\;\ rv\:1\.9\.0\.3\)\ Firefox\/3\.0|pt\-BR\;\ rv\:1\.9\.0\.18\)\ Firefox\/3\.0|\!susie|\$x0e|\%0a|\%0d|\@\$x|\_irc|\_works|\+select\+|\+union\+|\<\?|1\,\1\,1\,|3gse|4all|4anything|5\.1\;\ xv6875\)|59\.64\.153\.|85\.17\.|88\.0\.106\.|98|a\_browser|a1\ site|abac|abach|abby|aberja|abilon|abont|abot|accept|access|accoo|accoon|aceftp|acme|active|address|adopt|adress|advisor|agent|ahead|aihit|aipbot|alarm|albert|alek|alexa\ toolbar\;\ \(r1\ 1\.5\)|alltop|alma|alot|alpha|america\ online\ browser\ 1\.1|amfi|amfibi|anal|andit|anon|ansearch|answer|answerbus|answerchase|antivirx|apollo|appie|arach|archive|arian|aboutoil|asps|aster|atari|atlocal|atom|atrax|atrop|attrib|autoh|autohot|av\ fetch|avsearch|axod|axon|baboom|baby|back|baid|bali|bandit|barry|basichttp|batch|bdfetch|beat|become|bee|beij|betabot|biglotron|bilgi|bison|bitacle|bitly|blaiz|blitz|blogl|blogscope|blogzice|bloob|blow|bord|boi|bond|boris|bost|bot\.ara|botje|botw|bpimage|brand|brok|broth|browseabit|browsex|bruin|bsalsa|bsdseek|built|bulls|bumble|bunny|busca|busi|buy|bwh3|cafek|cafi|camel|cand|captu|casper|catch|ccbot|ccubee|cd34|ceg|cfnetwork|cgichk|cha0s|chang|chaos|char|char\(|chase\ x|check\_http|checker|checkonly|chek|chill|chttpclient|cipinet|cisco|cita|citeseer|clam|claria|claw|clush|coast|code\.com|cogent|coldfusion|coll|collect|comb|combine|commentreader|common|compan|compatible\-|conc|conduc|contact|control|contype|conv|cool|copi|copy|coral|corn|cosmos|costa|cowbot|cr4nk|craft|cralwer|crank|crap|crawler0|crazy|cres|cs\-cz|cshttp|cuill|CURI|curl|curry|custo|cute|cyber|cz3|czx|daily|dalvik|daobot|dark|darwin|data|daten|dcbot|dcs|dds\ explorer|deep|deps|detect|dex|diam|diibot|dillo|ding|disc|disp|ditto|dlc|doco|dotbot|drag|drec|dsdl|dsok|dts|duck|dumb|eag|earn|earthcom|easydl|ebin|echo|edco|egoto|elnsb5|email|emer|empas|encyclo|enfi|enhan|enterprise\_search|envolk|erck|erocr|eventax|evere|evil|ewh|exploit|expre|extra|eyen|fang|fast|fastbug|faxo|fdse|feed24|feeddisc|feedhub|fetch|filan|fileboo|fimap|find|firebat|firedownload\/1\.2pre\ firefox\/3\.6|firefox\/0|firefox\/2|firs|flam|flash|flexum|flip|fly|focus|fooky|forum|forv|fost|foto|foun|fount|foxy\/1\;|free|friend|frontpage|fuck|fuer|futile|fyber|gais|galbot|gbpl|gecko\/2001|gecko\/2002|gecko\/2006|gecko\/2009042316|gener|geni|geo|geona|geth|getr|getw|ggl|gira|gluc|gnome|go\!zilla|goforit|goldfire|gonzo|google\ wireless|googlebot\-image|gosearch|got\-it|gozilla|grab|graf|greg|grub|grup|gsa\-cra|gsearch|gt\:\:www|guidebot|guruji|gyps|haha|hailo|harv|hash|hatena|hax|head|helm|herit|heritrix|hgre|hippo|hloader|hmse|hmview|holm|holy|hotbar\ 4\.4\.5\.0|hpprint|httpclient|httpconnect|httplib|human|huron|hverify|hybrid|hyper|iaskspi|ibm\ evv|iccra|ichiro|icopy|ida|ie\/5\.0|ieauto|iempt|iexplore\.exe|ilium|ilse|iltrov|indexer|indy|ineturl|infonav|innerpr|inspect|insuran|intellig|interget|internet\_explorer|internet\x|intraf|ip2|ipsel|irlbot|isc\_sys|isilo|isrccrawler|isspi|jady|jaka|jam|jenn|jet|jiro|jobo|joc|jupit|just|jyx|jyxo|kash|kazo|kbee|kenjin|kernel|keywo|kfsw|kkma|kmc|know|kosmix|krae|krug|ksibot|ktxn|kum|labs|lanshan|lapo|larbin|leech|lets|lexi|lexxe|libby|libcrawl|libcurl|libfetch|libweb|libwww|light|linc|lingue|linkcheck|linklint|linkman|lint|list|litefeeds|livedoor|livejournal|liveup|lmq|locu|london|lone|loop|lork|lth\_|lwp|mac\_f|magi|magp|mail\.ru|main|majest|mam|mama|mana|marketwire|masc|mass|mata|mvi|mcbot|mecha|mechanize|mediapartners|metadata|metalogger|metaspin|metauri|mete|mib\/2\.2|microsoft\.url|microsoft\_internet\_explorer|mido|miggi|miix|mindjet|mindman|mips|mira|mire|miss|mist|mizz|mj12|mlbot|mlm|mnog|moge|moje|mooz|more|mouse|mozdex) [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [G]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(127\.0\.0\.0|localhost) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} .*(Windows\ NT\ 6\.1\;\ tr\;\ rv\:1\.9\.2\.6\)|mozilla\/0|mozilla\/1|mozilla\/2|mozilla\/3|mozilla\/4\.61\ \[en\]|mozilla\/firefox|mpf|msie\ 1|msie\ 2|msie\ 3|msie\ 4|msie\ 5|msie\ 6\.0\-|msie\ 6\.0b|msie\ 7\.0a1\;|msie\ 7\.0b\;|msie6xpv1|msiecrawler|msnbot\-media|msnbot\-products|msnptc|msproxy|msrbot|musc|mvac|mwm|my\_age|myapp|mydog|myeng|myie2|mysearch|myurl|nag|name|naver|navr|near|netants|netcach|netcrawl|netfront|netinfo|netmech|netsp|netx|netz|neural|neut|newsbreak|newsgatorinbox|newsrob|newt|next|ng\-s|ng\/2|nice|nikto|nimb|ninja|ninte|nog|noko|nomad|norb|note|npbot|nuse|nutch|nutex|nwsp|obje|ocel|octo|odi3|oegp|offby|offline|omea|omg|omhttp|onfo|onyx|openf|openssl|openu|opera\ 2|opera\ 3|opera\ 4|opera\ 5|opera\ 6|opera\ 7|orac|orbit|oreg|osis|our|outf|owl|p3p\_|page2rss|pagefet|pansci|parser|patw|pavu|pb2pb|pcbrow|pear|peer|pepe|perfect|perl|petit|phoenix\/0\.|php|phras|picalo|piff|pig|pingd|pipe|pirs|plag|planet|plant|platform|playstation|plesk|pluck|plukkie|poe\-com|poirot|pomp|post|postrank|powerset|preload|press|privoxy|probe|program\_shareware|protect|protocol|prowl|proxie|proxy|psbot|pubsub|puf|pulse|punit|purebot|purity|pyq|pyth|query|quest|qweer|radian|rambler|ramp|rapid|rawdog|rawgrunt|reap|reeder|refresh|reget|relevare|repo|requ|request|rese|retrieve|rip|rix|rma|roboz|rocket|rogue|rpt\-http|rsscache|ruby|ruff|rufus|rv\:0\.9\.7\)|salt|sample|sauger|savvy|sbcyds|sbider|sblog|sbp|scagent|scanner|scej\_|sched|schizo|schlong|schmo|scorp|scott|scout|scrawl|screen|screenshot|script|seamonkey\/1\.5a|search17|searchbot|searchme|sega|semto|sensis|seop|seopro|sept|sezn|seznam|share|sharp|shaz|shell|shelo|sherl|shim|shopwiki|silurian|simple|simplepie|siph|sitekiosk|sitescan|sitevigil|sitex|skam|skimp|sledink|sleip|slide|sly|smag|smurf|snag|snapbot|snapshot|snif|snip|snoop|sock|socsci|sogou|sohu|solr|some|soso|spad|span|spbot|speed|sphere|spin|sproose|spurl|sputnik|spyder|squi|sqwid|sqworm|ssm\_ag|stack|stamp|statbot|state|steel|stilo|strateg|stress|strip|style|subot|such|suck|sume|sunos\ 5\.7|sunrise|superbot|superbro|supervi|surf4me|surfbot|survey|susi|suza|suzu|sweep|sygol|synapse|sync2it|systems|szukacz|tagger|tagoo|tagyu|take|talkro|tamu|tandem|tarantula|tbot|tcf|tcs\/1|teamsoft|tecomi|teesoft|teleport|telesoft|tencent|terrawiz|test|texnut|thomas|tiehttp|timebot|timely|tipp|tiscali|titan|tmcrawler|tmhtload|tocrawl|todobr|tongco|toolbar\;\ \(r1|topic|topyx|torrent|track|translate|traveler|treeview|tricus|trivia|trivial|true|tunnel|turing|turnitin|tutorgig|twat|tweak|twice|tygo|ubee|ultraseek|unavail|unf|universal|unknown|upg1|uptime|urlbase|urllib|urly|user\-agent\:|useragent|usyd|vagabo|valet|vamp|vci|veri\~li|verif|versus|via|virtual|visual|void|voyager|vsyn|w0000t|w3search|walhello|walker|wand|waol|watch|wavefire|wbdbot|weather|web\.ima|web2mal|webarchive|webbot|webcat|webcor|webcorp|webcrawl|webdat|webdup|webgo|webind|webis|webitpr|weblea|webmin|webmoney|webp|webql|webrobot|webster|websurf|webtre|webvac|webzip|wells|wep\_s|wget|whiz|widow|win67|windows\-rss|windows\ 2000|windows\ 3|windows\ 95|windows\ 98|windows\ ce|windows\ me|winht|winodws|wish|wizz|wordp|worio|works|world|worth|wwwc|wwwo|wwwster|xaldon|xbot|xenu|xirq|y\!tunnel|yacy|yahoo\-mmaudvid|yahooseeker|yahooysmcm|yamm|yand|yandex|yang|yoono|yori|yotta|yplus\ |ytunnel|zade|zagre|zeal|zebot|zerx|zeus|zhuaxia|zipcode|zixy|zmao) [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [G]To implement the UA Blacklist, simply paste into your site’s root .htaccess file (or even better, the Apache configuration file). Upload, test, and stay current with updates and news.
Important Note
The UA Blacklist uses hundreds of regular expressions to block bad bots based on their user-agent. Each of these regular expressions can match many different user-agents. Care has been taken to ensure that only bad bots are blocked, but false positives are inevitable. If you know of a user-agent that should be removed from the list, please let me know. I will do my best to update things asap.
Bottom line: Only use this code if you know what you are doing. It’s not a “fix-it-and-forget” situation, especially for production sites. It’s more like a “fix-it-and-keep-an-eye-on-it” kind of thing, meant for those who understand how it works. As mentioned in the comments, the 2010 User-Agent Blacklist is a work in progress. Please use the UA Blacklist with caution and at your own risk.
So much more..
For those new to Perishable Press, please check out some of my other security resources:
- 2010 IP Blacklist
- The Perishable Press 4G Blacklist
- Blacklist Library
- HTAccess Library
- Security Library
Security is an important part of what I do around here, so please chime in with any suggestions, ideas, and comments. Thank you for visiting Perishable Press.
105 responses to “2010 User-Agent Blacklist”
I’m the host… so, I guess I can talk to myself. =P
It sounds like it’s doing a redirect loop. Guess I’ll have to look into it more. But I’m guessing upping the rewrite limit will just make it loop that much more.
This is with apache 2.2. =/
This new version looks better than ever, Jeff. Your work here is frequently brilliant and always appreciated.
I put it in my vhost file… but I’ll try htaccess.
and yeah, I’ll turn on the rewrite log and take a look.
Will post back.
These rules prevent the CSS validator from working:
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Taking them out allowed it to work again
@RS: Some hosts restrict what you can do with htaccess files. It sounds like they may be limiting the number and/or length of rewrite conditions. It could also be a placement issue. Consult your host for more information.
@Ade: Thank you kindly :)
@Eric: I’ll check it out.. what is the UA used for the validator?
@RS: And the list is located in the root htaccess file? Perhaps the Apache rewrite log will help sort it out..
Thanks a lot Jeff for this! I fell saver now because I’m having many spam and the load on the server goes up.
With the line starting with:
RewriteCondyour previous blacklist had
[NC,OR]at the end, it is now[NC].What does OR mean and why is it not being used now?
Really cool blacklist :D :D Nice work
sorry, i am a beginner on “spam” problem
which one is more effective?
IP blocking or UA blocking?
@Dean: The
[OR]means just that – “or”, such that multiple rewrite conditions may be evaluated for any given RewriteRule. I’ll check out the previous blacklist and see what’s up, but for our purposes here, no[OR]flags are required.@Julian: It depends on how you are using either method. It’s a lot easier to fake a user-agent than it is an IP address, so I usually reserve IP-blocking for specific cases and user-agent blocking for known bad bots. If you need to block an entire country, blocking via IP is the way to go. If you want to keep the evil “diavol” bot away, blocking the user-agent is the way to go. Great question!
Jeff, do you know the difference between an evil bot and the regular check for feed updates by an RSS reader?
It seems no, or your “carefully constructed” blacklist would not include liferea…
@Adrian: All I know is what my server logs tell me. It’s impossible to research every malicious request, so if a bot is acting like a twerp, it’s added to the list.
Even so, I am more than happy to edit the blacklist to account for legitimate bots that may otherwise look suspicious. Just provide a reference – no need to be insulting.