https://git.wikimedia.org/blob/wikimedia%2Fbugzilla%2Fmodifications.git/HEAD/skins%2Fcontrib%2FWikimedia%2Fvector.css#L451 welcomes your patch. :)

Change 106761 had a related patch set uploaded by 01tonythomas:
Remove padlock icon from links in Wikimedia Bugzilla installation

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/106761

is everything https already? then it seems indeed unneeded, but if it's not i guess the original intention was to tell users which links are save?

The custom vector.css file in Bugzilla predates my existence in this community, but as the name implies it tries to make Bugzilla look more like MediaWiki Vector style, and Vector displays the padlock icon next to secure links.

Personally I'm undecided if we're after better readability in Bugzilla or higher consistency with MediaWiki for how text is rendered.

(In reply to comment #4)

Personally I'm undecided if we're after better readability in Bugzilla or
higher consistency with MediaWiki for how text is rendered.

Instead of removing the padlock icon, I suppose we could add a subsequent CSS directive that says that if it a link starts with "https://www.mediawiki.org/" or "https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/" it could be treated as an internal link (i.e., no HTTPS icon). That's really the issue here: certain links such as [[internal links]] shouldn't have HTTPS icons because that doesn't match the wiki's behavior and it looks really weird.

I don't want to decide on taking this patch or not (see comment 4).
Please gather more voices / input.

Thanks for noting bug 61178 as a see also here. That bug is now resolved/fixed.

Change 106761 merged by Dzahn:
Remove padlock icon from links in Wikimedia Bugzilla installation

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/106761

icons are gone on reload now