Receiving error "Your listing cannot contain javascript (".cookie", "cookie(", "replace(", IFRAME, "

[lifehomeshop]

Am typing plain text in my description. After clicking "List It" I get an error message stating that I have to fix the description because "Your listing cannot contain javascript (".cookie", "cookie(", "replace(", IFRAME, META, or includes), cookies or base href."

MY DESCRIPTION IS PLAIN TEXT. I do not mention cookies in the description. I do not have any iframes or javascript.

Any ideas?

[eburtonlab]

@lifehomeshop 

Make sure that if your text includes parentheses, there is a space before the open parenthesis and a space or a period after a close parenthesis. It seems that something in your text looks like a java code command -- probably a word and a punctuation mark of some kind. Also make sure you have a space after a period.

If none of that helps, try posting your text here -- perhaps someone can spot something that looks like java code that you can reword.

[berserkerplanet]

Are you using the Advanced (Business) listing form or the Quick Listing form?

Are you trying to type your text in the HTML tab of the listing form or the Standard (Rich Text editor) tab of the form?

I pasted in some text in the HTML tab in one of my scheduled listings and it threw that error. I tried a few things and the error went away, and not sure if it's linefeeds, certain words, being outside of any standard HTML DOM structure, or what exactly the problem is, but the point is, you can't just type text in the HTML tab.

I'm guessing eBay might have implemented some more bot checking of description content (maybe to counter some new exploits to get around policy and security being tried), and it reacts badly to unstructured HTML. Or it's another temporary glitch in the description editor.

It does it in the Standard tab too. Still could be a bot check gone wrong.

Ok. eBay's scripts are triggering on words in the text and throwing that error. I played with it and didn't nail it all down, but I did obfuscate the words iframe, javascript, and cookie, the error goes away, and item lists. I think it might be cookie, but not going to waste more time on this, and there could be many words or word fragments that trigger the bots .

This may be a word search puzzle issue - eBay bots tend to look for any occurrence of words in text blocks ignoring whitespace and punctuation.

ie: if they are triggering on cookie, they will trigger if they see  "This is a cook ie thing" (similar to the bots picking up on "The pen is nice!" in eBay messages)

As eburtonlab suggested, post the text you are trying to type here and it may be obvious what the problem is.

[merelybitz]

I had this message recently on 2 listings.

When I looked at the html there was an out of date reference to a photobucket file. Probably  been there for ages however ebay check must have found it, deleted the paragraph and problem solved.

[lifehomeshop]

Thanks for all your replies. I am using the Standard Editor. Have now tried this on both Chrome and Firefox. Tried removing all parentheses and still got the error.

ugh

Am pasting my description below ... if anyone has time to comb through this to see if any phrase might trigger a bot, I thank you!

You must be 21+ years of age to book this reservation.

Reservation Details

2 Bedroom Deluxe Condo for 3 nights/4 days.

Sleeps 6.  1 King, 2 Twins, Sleep Sofa.

Check in Friday, July 26, 2019 after 4pm

Check out Monday, July 29, 2019 by 10am

Location. Location. Location.

Newport’s Wyndham Long Wharf is a luxurious home base to explore Newport. Located near the Newport Marriott and across from Newport Yacht Club, the resort is a short stroll to all of Newport's scenic wharves, shops, historic sites, restaurants, and clubs. If you're coming for the Newport Folk Festival, the water taxi to Fort Adams is a 4minute walk from the resort.

Unit Amenities

2 bedrooms with TV.

2 full bathrooms.

Living area with TV.

Full kitchen with refrigerator, dishwasher, and cooking/dining supplies.

Dining table.

Resort Amenities

Updated décor.
Indoor Swimming Pool
Organized Activities Program
Outdoor Hot Tub
Movie Theater
Outdoor Swimming Pool
Fitness Center
Game Room
Picnic/BBQ Area with complimentary gas grills.
Laundry Facilities
WiFi

For further details regarding this property please send a message.

 

How It Works

This condo is currently reserved in my name.  When you purchase I will make arrangements to get a guest certificate in your name and send it to you by mail or email.

Your guest certificate must be presented at check-in, no exceptions. The person on the guest certificate must be 21+ years of age, a photo id, credit card, and the guest certificate are required at checking. These procedures are strictly enforced by Wyndham. The resort requires a credit card at check-in for incidental room charges.
 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Once reservations are put in your name, the unit is yours for the dates indicated. Cancellations/refunds are not permitted.

You do not have to arrive on the first night of your stay nor do you have to stay until the last day. If you don't arrive or if you depart early, it will sit empty. However, there will not be any nights added to/removed from your stay for any unused nights, and no refunds.

This is a Wyndham managed property. The resort has the right to enforce occupancy levels and check-out times. Check-in time is typically 4:00 pm daily; check-out time is typically 10:00 am.

You DO NOT have to attend a Timeshare Sales presentation.

This is a non-smoking resort

No pets

Please note that some 2BR suites are two-story with stairs up to bedrooms. The unit is assigned by hotel management.

There is a late check-out fee assessed for any guests checking out past the deadline.

A credit card imprint and picture ID are required at check-in.  Any damage or pilfering is the responsibility of the guest.

 
For answers to your questions,contact the resort directly or message me via eBay.

DISCLAIMER Pictures do not depict the specific unit. We do not assign the actual unit.

After purchase of the reservation please contact the resort for specific requests*

By listing this auction I verify that I am the actual timeshare owner and not a third party affiliate.The accommodations in this listing will be booked directly through me and not an outside agency.

[eburtonlab]

@lifehomeshop 

The only things that I see that I might change would be to add a space in the "4minute walk", and add a space between the period and start of the last sentence. No idea if that is what is actually triggering the bot, though.

If that does not help, try eliminating all the "/"s, or the "+" in "21+", I guess.

You are not using "LastPass" by any chance, are you? That has caused problems in the past by corrupting listings with javascript.

[babclassics]

@lifehomeshop 

If this is still an open problem, then you need to post the HTML, not the plain text.  In the advanced editor the HTML can be seen by switching to the HTML tab in the item description edit box.  There could be all kinds of HTML or JavaScript in your HTML that can not be seen in the Standard tab.   Or... you can save your text somewhere else, go to the HTML tab,  delete EVERYTHING... then go back to the Standard tab and paste your text in.  Give it a try.

[berserkerplanet]

>>Thanks for all your replies. I am using the Standard Editor. Have now tried this on both Chrome
>>and Firefox. Tried removing all parentheses and still got the error.

As always: Data good! Can make things go.

Looks like you stumbled across a bug in the description security bot routines where they are flagging the line with
Location. Location. Location.

The JavaScript location object is a powerful thing (ie: window.location.href="hxxps://maliciouswebsite.zyx" takes the user off to parts unknown), but it looks like eBay's detection routines are freaking out over just a scrap of a fragment that it "thinks" is JS.

And remember what I said about whitespace - eBay inspection code tends to strip it and view the resulting concatenation.
ie: Location. Location. Location. is inspected as Location.Location.Location. and tastes a bit like JavaScript.

Location. alone is fine.
Location. Location. Location produces the error
Location Location. Location. produces the error
Location Location Location. is fine
Location. Location Location. is fine

It looks like a chain of 2 consecutive location. (with the periods in between) errors out

Just remove the first, the first 2, the middle, or all periods and it will work. Could replace the first 2 with commas or !'s or -'s

brian@ebay This is an obscure one but looks like a bug in the listing description prohibited content detection routines.

[brian@ebay]

---

@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>Thanks for all your replies. I am using the Standard Editor. Have now tried this on both Chrome
>>and Firefox. Tried removing all parentheses and still got the error.

As always: Data good! Can make things go.

Looks like you stumbled across a bug in the description security bot routines where they are flagging the line with
Location. Location. Location.

The JavaScript location object is a powerful thing (ie: window.location.href="hxxps://maliciouswebsite.zyx" takes the user off to parts unknown), but it looks like eBay's detection routines are freaking out over just a scrap of a fragment that it "thinks" is JS.

And remember what I said about whitespace - eBay inspection code tends to strip it and view the resulting concatenation.
ie: Location. Location. Location. is inspected as Location.Location.Location. and tastes a bit like JavaScript.

Location. alone is fine.
Location. Location. Location produces the error
Location Location. Location. produces the error
Location Location Location. is fine
Location. Location Location. is fine

It looks like a chain of 2 consecutive location. (with the periods in between) errors out

Just remove the first, the first 2, the middle, or all periods and it will work. Could replace the first 2 with commas or !'s or -'s

brian@ebay This is an obscure one but looks like a bug in the listing description prohibited content detection routines.

---

Thanks for letting me know, @berserkerplanet!

[mccfamschool]

I'm getting the same error message while creating a product listing in Wonder Lister, each time when I try "Verify with eBay" after saving my current listing (a board wargame).  At first I thought this might be something to do with the description of the gameplay (not the box contents) I had copy/pasted from online, so I stripped that out and replaced it with a very stripped-down paraphrase in my own words.  That didn't fix it, so I saw the tip about parentheses and punctuation here, and inserted a space after each close parenthesis before a comma, which I had to do in several spots.  Wonder Lister recently did an update, so the main Description box is WYSIWYG by default (it used to show the HTML code after you edited a description in the Description Builder pop-up window).  However, I figured out how to switch to HTML edit mode, and am including the description that's giving me problems here:

<p>Medieval (2nd Edition) , designed by Richard Berg &amp; Ralph Shelton; published 2018 by HGN Games; in&nbsp;good/new/unpunched condition from a smoke-free home. 11.5"x11.5"x3" 2-piece lidded box (plastic component organizer in box bottom) contains 22"x33" full-color folding mounted gamemap, 32-page rulebook, double-sided player aid card, 108 cards (counted &amp; bagged) , 6 black felt coin pouches, 6 wooden ship pieces (in unopened original small zipper-seal bag) , 120 wooden playing pieces (20 each x 6 players, all in unopened original small zipper-seal bags) , 2 six-sided dice (original to game, in unopened original small zipper-seal bag) , and 6 unpunched tile/counter/coin sheets; minimal to no known wear.&nbsp; (Shrinkwrap has been removed &amp; zipper-seal bags for cards added, but all other components are unpunched or in unopened bags.)&nbsp;&nbsp;Loose simulation of 13th-century European history, including Mongol invasions. Compared to the 2003 1st ed. (published by GMT) , this 2nd edition features a full graphic &amp; component overhaul, a mounted map instead of a card-built map, streamlined rules, and new optional rules for 1-player, 2-player, or 6-player games.<br />For 1-6 players&nbsp;of ages 14 and up.&nbsp; (Please keep out of reach of pets and small children, as the many small components can be a potential choking hazard.)&nbsp; Lots of fascinating gaming here; enjoy!<br />Buyer pays Parcel Select,&nbsp;Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express shipping per shipping calculator. (Sorry, this item can NOT be shipped via Media Mail!) International buyers email or use My Messages if shipping calculator unavailable for all of your items. Will combine shipping for winners of multiple auctions.<br />Import duties,&nbsp;taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.</p>

I may try stripping out the parentheses altogether next.  If that doesn't work, I'm stumped, because I know nothing about Java -- except that I can't drink it without cream & sugar!

[mccfamschool]

Just stripped out all parentheses from the description, and still getting the "no javascript allowed" error message. Could someone please help me identify what needs fixing here?

[eburtonlab]

@mccfamschool 

I am not an expert in this kind of thing, but I would try removing any ampersands ("&") from your text -- replace them with "and". Then remove semicolons, and forward slashes (in "good/new/unpunched" and "tile/counter/coin" and "bidding/buying").

Perhaps try using just the text without any html formatting; if that works, try adding the formatting later.

[mccfamschool]

I'll try stripping out the ampersands, semicolons and forward slashes. I normally work in WYSIWYG mode, so the HTML formatting is added automatically, but if stripping out the suggested punctuation doesn't work, I'll see what I can do about stripping out the HTML formatting as well. Thanks for the quick response!

[mccfamschool]

Stripped out the ampersands, semicolons and forward slashes, saved, and attempted verification again - and got the "no javascript allowed" error message again. Switched to HTML edit mode, stripped out all of the HTML formatting, saved, and attempted verification again - and still got the "no javascript allowed" error message. If I can clean this up to the point where the Javascript error message goes away, I think I remember how to put in the HTML for "begin paragraph" and "end paragraph" manually (something I had to do back in Turbo Lister 1 days), which would be all the HTML I'd really need. But I need to clear this Javascript error message first - arrgh!

[eburtonlab]

@mccfamschool 

The only other thing I can suggest is to put in some totally innocuous place holder text. If you are able to list that way, then edit the listing and add your original text one line at a time. You may be able to find out which particular line is causing the issue.