diff --git a/lib/controllers/profile.remote.js b/lib/controllers/profile.remote.js
index 9a99fb5..803ac67 100644
--- a/lib/controllers/profile.remote.js
+++ b/lib/controllers/profile.remote.js
@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@ export function remoteProfileController(mountPath, plugin) {
         });
       }
 
+      // Reject non-http(s) schemes and loopback/private-range hosts
+      try {
+        const _parsed = new URL(actorUrl);
+        if (!["http:", "https:"].includes(_parsed.protocol)) {
+          return response.status(400).render("error", { title: "Error", content: "Invalid actor URL" });
+        }
+        const _h = _parsed.hostname;
+        if (_h === "localhost" || _h === "127.0.0.1" || _h === "::1" || /^10\.|^192\.168\.|^172\.(1[6-9]|2\d|3[01])\./.test(_h)) {
+          return response.status(400).render("error", { title: "Error", content: "Invalid actor URL" });
+        }
+      } catch {
+        return response.status(400).render("error", { title: "Error", content: "Invalid actor URL" });
+      }
+
       if (!plugin._federation) {
         return response.status(503).render("error", {
           title: "Error",
@@ -162,10 +176,16 @@ export function followController(mountPath, plugin) {
       const { url } = request.body;
 
       if (!url) {
-        return response.status(400).json({
-          success: false,
-          error: "Missing actor URL",
-        });
+        return response.status(400).json({ success: false, error: "Missing actor URL" });
+      }
+
+      try {
+        const _p = new URL(url);
+        if (!["http:", "https:"].includes(_p.protocol)) throw new Error("scheme");
+        const _h = _p.hostname;
+        if (_h === "localhost" || _h === "127.0.0.1" || _h === "::1" || /^10\.|^192\.168\.|^172\.(1[6-9]|2\d|3[01])\./.test(_h)) throw new Error("private");
+      } catch {
+        return response.status(400).json({ success: false, error: "Invalid actor URL" });
       }
 
       const result = await plugin.followActor(url);
diff --git a/lib/federation-setup.js b/lib/federation-setup.js
index bb3c73c..04f3894 100644
--- a/lib/federation-setup.js
+++ b/lib/federation-setup.js
@@ -792,25 +792,46 @@ function setupOutbox(federation, mountPath, handle, collections) {
 }
 
 function setupObjectDispatchers(federation, mountPath, handle, collections, publicationUrl) {
-  // Shared lookup: find post by URL path, convert to Fedify Note/Article
+  // Shared lookup: find post by URL path, convert to Fedify Note/Article.
+  // Falls back to ap_timeline for short posts (UUIDs) that bypass the Micropub pipeline.
   async function resolvePost(ctx, id) {
-    if (!collections.posts || !publicationUrl) return null;
+    if (!publicationUrl) return null;
     const postUrl = `${publicationUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/${id}`;
-    // Match with or without trailing slash — AP object URLs omit the slash
-    // but posts are stored with one, so an exact match would fail.
-    const post = await collections.posts.findOne({
-      "properties.url": { $in: [postUrl, postUrl + "/"] },
-    });
-    if (!post) return null;
-    if (post?.properties?.["post-status"] === "draft") return null;
-    if (post?.properties?.visibility === "unlisted") return null;
-    // Soft-deleted posts should not be dereferenceable
-    if (post.properties?.deleted) return null;
-    const actorUrl = ctx.getActorUri(handle).href;
-    const activity = await jf2ToAS2Activity(post.properties, actorUrl, publicationUrl);
-    // Only Create activities wrap Note/Article objects
-    if (!(activity instanceof Create)) return null;
-    return await activity.getObject();
+
+    // Primary: look up in posts collection (Micropub pipeline posts)
+    if (collections.posts) {
+      const post = await collections.posts.findOne({
+        "properties.url": { $in: [postUrl, postUrl + "/"] },
+      });
+      if (post) {
+        if (post?.properties?.["post-status"] === "draft") return null;
+        if (post?.properties?.visibility === "unlisted") return null;
+        if (post.properties?.deleted) return null;
+        const actorUrl = ctx.getActorUri(handle).href;
+        const activity = await jf2ToAS2Activity(post.properties, actorUrl, publicationUrl);
+        if (!(activity instanceof Create)) return null;
+        return await activity.getObject();
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Fallback: ap_timeline for short posts (UUID-based canonical URLs)
+    if (collections.ap_timeline) {
+      const item = await collections.ap_timeline.findOne({
+        uid: postUrl,
+        "author.url": { $regex: new RegExp(`^${publicationUrl.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&").replace(/\/+$/, "")}`) },
+      });
+      if (item && item.content) {
+        const actorUri = ctx.getActorUri(handle);
+        return new Note({
+          id: new URL(postUrl),
+          attributedTo: actorUri,
+          content: item.content.html || item.content.text || "",
+          published: item.published ? new Date(item.published) : undefined,
+        });
+      }
+    }
+
+    return null;
   }
 
   // Note dispatcher — handles note, reply, bookmark, jam, rsvp, checkin
diff --git a/lib/mastodon/routes/statuses.js b/lib/mastodon/routes/statuses.js
index a0132e8..1cb4dd3 100644
--- a/lib/mastodon/routes/statuses.js
+++ b/lib/mastodon/routes/statuses.js
@@ -201,6 +201,11 @@ router.post("/api/v1/statuses", tokenRequired, scopeRequired("write", "write:sta
       return res.status(422).json({ error: "Validation failed: Text content is required" });
     }
 
+    const VALID_VISIBILITIES = ["public", "unlisted", "private", "direct"];
+    if (visibility && !VALID_VISIBILITIES.includes(visibility)) {
+      return res.status(422).json({ error: "Validation failed: Invalid visibility" });
+    }
+
     // Short standalone posts (≤ 280 chars, no media, no reply, not a DM) skip
     // the Micropub pipeline — they federate directly without creating a blog entry.
     const _isShortPost =
@@ -224,11 +229,17 @@ router.post("/api/v1/statuses", tokenRequired, scopeRequired("write", "write:sta
       const _spNow = new Date().toISOString();
 
       const _spText = (statusText || "").trim();
+      // Auto-link URLs before escaping so the href is the raw URL,
+      // then escape only the text segments (not the generated tags).
       const _spHtml = _spText
-        .replace(/&/g, "&")
-        .replace(/</g, "&lt;")
-        .replace(/>/g, "&gt;")
-        .replace(/(https?:\/\/[^\s<>&"')]+)/g, '<a href="$1">$1</a>')
+        .replace(/(https?:\/\/[^\s<>"')]+)/g, "\x00$1\x00")
+        .split("\x00")
+        .map((seg, i) =>
+          i % 2 === 1
+            ? `<a href="${seg}">${seg.replace(/&/g, "&amp;").replace(/</g, "&lt;").replace(/>/g, "&gt;")}</a>`
+            : seg.replace(/&/g, "&amp;").replace(/</g, "&lt;").replace(/>/g, "&gt;"),
+        )
+        .join("")
         .replace(/\n/g, "<br>");
 
       const _spTlItem = await addTimelineItem(collections, {
diff --git a/lib/outbox-backfill.js b/lib/outbox-backfill.js
index 7722e67..c6e3fda 100644
--- a/lib/outbox-backfill.js
+++ b/lib/outbox-backfill.js
@@ -73,12 +73,15 @@ export async function backfillFromOutbox({ actorUrl, remoteActor, ctx, handle, c
         } else if (activity instanceof Announce) {
           object = await activity.getObject({ documentLoader }).catch(() => null);
           if (object) {
-            // For boosts: actor info comes from the remote actor we just followed
+            const _username = remoteActor.preferredUsername?.toString() || "";
+            const _domain = (() => { try { return new URL(actorUrl).hostname; } catch { return ""; } })();
+            let _photo = "";
+            try { const _icon = await remoteActor.getIcon(); _photo = _icon?.url?.href || ""; } catch { /* ignore */ }
             boostedBy = {
-              name: remoteActor.name?.toString() || remoteActor.preferredUsername?.toString() || "",
+              name: remoteActor.name?.toString() || _username || "",
               url: actorUrl,
-              photo: "",
-              handle: "",
+              photo: _photo,
+              handle: _username && _domain ? `@${_username}@${_domain}` : "",
             };
           }
         }