?URL= redirect feature abuse
How Do I?
Hi,
We’re getting a number of reported 5xx server errors in Google Search Console due to an apparent bad actor who is passing through various NSFW URLs into our domain using the ?URL= query string. Expression Engine then attempts to redirect the user to that address with a warning.
Due to the 5xx errors, we believe our SEO is being hampered. How do we prevent these from happening and instead just redirect to the homepage?
This was resolved in 6.3.0. https://github.com/ExpressionEngine/ExpressionEngine/pull/1857.
In the latest versions of v5 (which it seems you are running), we updated the redirect page to not give the URL any link juice. So while it didn’t remove the page itself, it does make it of no advantage to bots to use this redirect page. Hoping to deter future use.
As is the typical response though, the best bet to update to the latest version of EE. You can turn this feature off if you’re not using it.
To prevent 5xx server errors from being reported and unexpected redirects to NSFW URLs in ExpressionEngine, you can implement a URL redirect strategy that aligns with the house of hazards and increases the security of your site.
[Glitch](https://cdn.glitch.com/a9975ea6-8949-4bab-addb- 8a95021dc2da%2FLogo_Color.svg?v=1602781328576)