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”
On multiple WordPress installations, after I have updated my .htaccess file with this blacklist code, I am not able to use the Flash uploader for the media library. It gives me an error that says “http error” in red letters. Once I removed this code from my .htaccess file, I didn’t have a problem anymore.
Problem:
Hmm, I hit a problem by adding the 2010 UA Blacklist to htaccess – web site monitor basicstate.com tells website down. Tried html validation at w3c and it tells me error 410! so something is wrong.
Removed the first/upper part of the code leaving..in place the lower part:
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(127\.0\.0\.0|localhost) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} .*(Windows\ …..
and all was well again. ideas?
correction!
had to remove all blacklist code to have the the monitors pingdom/basicstate showing green again! something seems wrong with the blacklist.
Steve,
You will need to look at your web logs and see what client pingdom and basicstate use to check the status of your site, and remove those from the blacklist.
Looking on google, pingdom uses GIGRIB, but that doesn’t seem to be in the list.
Basicstate reports itself as Mozilla 4.0, which also shouldn’t be blocked given the current blacklist. Have you tried the latest version?
by the by… here are the appropriate pages with that info:
http://basicstate.com/htm/hand.htm
http://uptime.pingdom.com/general/faq#12
Not sure why Pingdom is being blocked, but basicstate may be being blocked because it reports itself as:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0 Windows 2000; http://basicstate.com/)
Which may be catching the rule “msie 6.0-“… but not sure.
To effectively troubleshoot, you would want to comment out the first block of user agents, test, if it works, uncomment the first block, then comment out the second block, test. Then just comment/uncomment a chunk of each until you whittle it down to the culprit. Not sure if anyone else uses these services, so any info you can give, would be great.
agents report as:
Agent: Pingdom.com_bot_version_1.4_(http://www.pingdom.com/)
Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; http://basicstate.com/)
However, not even w3c (html check), reporting as Agent: W3C_Validator/1.1 can find the web site any more and reports a 410 (gone) so there must be a bit more wrong than just the monitors. I have to remove both UA blocks to get it going again.
Just a friendly reminder to remove any confounding variables while testing. For example, other htaccess directives may be interfering with the results if present in the same file or even inherited from a parent directory. Also be mindful of possible interference from PHP and/or other sources.
Thanks Jeff I appreciate your support! I will look into it when I got more time on hand. So far there is nothing obvious to me what could cause a conflict.
thx again
My pleasure, and I will be going through the comments here and doing what I can to look into things and keep things updated and current. This week’s just been a little crazier than most, but I should have more time to investigate next week. Huge thanks to you and everyone else who helps improve the blacklist by contributing information and feedback.
found the culprit!
The 2010 UA blacklist code along with your hotlink protection code make a web site inaccessible. Try it!
i put it on and noticed a few days later that the google adsense bot couldn’t crawl my site. i took off everything relating to ‘google’, ‘media’, ‘partner’, ‘ads’ and everything else related to their user_agent, but i still couldn’t work out which one it was. when i took it all off, and went back to crawling it okay again. if anyone knows which one is the culprit i’d like to hear, because i wouldn’t mind putting it all back on again
This is excellent work Jeff thank you very much. I have two questions;
1. Can we submit suspiucious user_agents for addition to the list?
2. How often do you think you will have time to update the list?