ignore wysiwyg content when adding targets to outbound links

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 - Fixed a bug where flipping an image within the Image Editor didn’t always work. ([#18486](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/issues/18486))
 - Fixed a bug where SVG files missing their `width` and `height` attributes weren’t getting them set as expected.
 - Fixed an error that occurred if a template referenced a preloaded Single entry followed by a null coalescing operator. ([#18503](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/issues/18503))
+- Fixed a bug where links within Redactor fields were getting `target="_blank"` added to them. ([#18500](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/issues/18500))
 
 ## 4.17.8 - 2026-02-25
 

src/web/assets/cp/src/js/Craft.js

@@ -1919,15 +1919,18 @@ $.extend(Craft, {
 
     // Open outbound links in new windows
     // hat tip: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2911045/1688568
-    $('a', $container).each(function () {
-      if (
-        this.hostname.length &&
-        this.hostname !== location.hostname &&
-        typeof $(this).attr('target') === 'undefined'
-      ) {
-        $(this).attr('rel', 'noopener').attr('target', '_blank');
-      }
-    });
+    // ignore items in contenteditable divs (like redactor or ckeditor fields)
+    $('a', $container)
+      .not('[contenteditable="true"] a')
+      .each(function () {
+        if (
+          this.hostname.length &&
+          this.hostname !== location.hostname &&
+          typeof $(this).attr('target') === 'undefined'
+        ) {
+          $(this).attr('rel', 'noopener').attr('target', '_blank');
+        }
+      });
   },
 
   _elementIndexClasses: {},