Fall Sale! Code FALL2024 takes 25% OFF our Pro Plugins & Books »
Web Dev + WordPress + Security

2010 User-Agent Blacklist

[ 2010 User-Agent Blacklist ] 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.

Update: Check out the new and improved 2013 User Agent Blacklist!

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]

View text format

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:

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.

About the Author
Jeff Starr = Web Developer. Book Author. Secretly Important.
Banhammer: Protect your WordPress site against threats.

105 responses to “2010 User-Agent Blacklist”

  1. Paris Vega 2010/08/13 8:32 am

    Is this included in the Block Bad Queries wordpress plugin?

  2. Jeff,

    adding above rules to 4G list, is now blocking “w3.org”, and probably others too. Haven’t checkecd other part of WordPress. Will report later.

    Can you advise to unblock w3.org.

  3. Jeff,

    Adding above rules to exisiting 4G list (wordking) list, is now blocking “w3.org” with “410” error code, and probably others too. Haven’t checked other part of WordPress. Will report later.

    In the meantime, can you advise to unblock w3.org?

  4. Jeff Starr 2010/08/14 5:47 pm

    @Paris Vega: No, this is an entirely different set of rules. :)

    @DG: Is w3.org the name of a user-agent? This blacklist only blocks certain UA strings and I’m not seeing w3.org listed anywhere..

  5. Are you sure about this blacklist’s ability to speed up a website? With a blacklist like this, every single request has to be checked against the blacklist. The checking will reduce performance as every user agent has to be checked against a regular expression.

    Is the gain from blocking bad bots greater than the loss from the checks?

  6. @DG: Is w3.org the name of a user-agent? This blacklist only blocks certain UA strings and I’m not seeing w3.org listed anywhere..

    Jeff,

    I think, W3.org’s default user is “W3C_Validator/xx.xxxx” – not exactly sure.

  7. @Daniel15: Good point. There are many factors that determine performance, including server resources, HTTP requests, and so on. When a site is deluged with spammers and crackers looking for exploits, things can really slow down. In such cases, the blacklist will help by eliminating the waste and opening up server resources for legitimate traffic. Conversely, running the blacklist on a site that doesn’t have a lot of bad traffic may reduce performance, if only slightly. Great question, and one of the reasons why the “only-use-if-you-know-what-you-are-doing” disclaimer is included in the article.

    @DG: It looks like the “valid” regex pattern was matching against the W3C Validation service. This has been corrected for both the in-post blacklist and the text-file version. Thanks for the help! :)

  8. Jeff,

    No, it didn’t work, looks like “valid” regex pattern is innocent. Still, w3.org generating “410” on both HTML & CSS validation services. It’s something else. Anyways, I’ve just added the rules to existing “4G Blacklist” let me check other part also.

    Will update you later.

    By the way, Jeff, you present theme, and the color combination are superb. One of my favorite colors.

  9. Trying this today….

  10. It has improved performance. We’ll how ya like that!

  11. Jake Noble 2010/08/21 5:15 am

    Hi, is there a list of UA that I can set my browser to so I can test this?

  12. Can anyone get me this for Nginx?

Comments are closed for this post. Something to add? Let me know.
Welcome
Perishable Press is operated by Jeff Starr, a professional web developer and book author with two decades of experience. Here you will find posts about web development, WordPress, security, and more »
Digging Into WordPress: Take your WordPress skills to the next level.
Thoughts
I disabled AI in Google search results. It was making me lazy.
Went out walking today and soaked up some sunshine. It felt good.
I have an original box/packaging for 2010 iMac if anyone wants it free let me know.
Always ask AI to cite its sources. Also: “The Web” is not a valid answer.
All free plugins updated and ready for WP 6.6 dropping next week. Pro plugin updates in the works also complete :)
99% of video thumbnail/previews are pure cringe. Goofy faces = Clickbait.
RIP ICQ
Newsletter
Get news, updates, deals & tips via email.
Email kept private. Easy unsubscribe anytime.