[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #64176: Numbers in Links Are Added to Tags

[WordPress Trac]

#64176: Numbers in Links Are Added to Tags
-------------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  bookandsword       |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)       |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal             |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Posts, Post Types  |    Version:  6.8.3
 Severity:  normal             |   Keywords:
  Focuses:                     |
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 For years I have noticed that my up-to-date WordPress install has posts
 with strange numerical tags which I do not remember adding. I can now
 reproduce this:

 1) Create a new post with any title and the following content (links are
 marked up with Markdown, ... wraps a verbal description of a block ...):

 {{{
 Hello world. [XKCD #978
 Citogenesis](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/978:_Citogenesis)

 ... more block ...

 Hello some more. [XKCD #678](https://xkcd.com/678/) is also good. See how
 many tags are attached to this post!

 (scheduled 30 October 2025)
 }}}

 2) Assign the post some tags. Post it. The post will appear with tags 978
 and 678 in addition to the tags you assigned. (As of 30 October 2025 see
 here https://www.bookandsword.com/2025/10/31/test-post-to-
 demonstrate-a-bug/)

 ...

 I don't have a lot of plugins installed (ActivityPub, Akismet Anti-spam:
 Spam Protection, Better Search Replace, Koko Analytics, Limit Login
 Attempts Reloaded, LiteSpeed Cache; of these I experienced the bug before
 Litespeed Cache and Better Search Replace were installed). I am on
 WordPress 6.8.3 running [Ekiline](https://wordpress.org/themes/ekiline/)
 theme. This is my working install so I am reluctant to turn off all
 plugins and revert to Twenty Twenty Five theme for the purpose of
 verification. I could do that if you can not reproduce, alternatively if
 you strongly suspect it is a theme issue I can submit it to the theme
 developer.

 This is my first WordPress bug report.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64176>
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