diff --git a/cdap-kubernetes/src/main/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizer.java b/cdap-kubernetes/src/main/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizer.java
index 3d9d20219cc..2644e9aceac 100644
--- a/cdap-kubernetes/src/main/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizer.java
+++ b/cdap-kubernetes/src/main/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizer.java
@@ -164,10 +164,16 @@ private Path expand(URI uri, InputStream inputStream, Path targetDir) throws IOE
     LOG.debug("Localize and expand {} to {}", uri.toString(), targetDir);
 
     try (ZipInputStream is = new ZipInputStream(inputStream)) {
-      Path targetPath = Files.createDirectories(targetDir);
+      Path targetPath = Files.createDirectories(targetDir).toAbsolutePath().normalize();
       ZipEntry entry;
       while ((entry = is.getNextEntry()) != null && !stopped) {
-        Path outputPath = targetPath.resolve(entry.getName());
+        Path outputPath = targetPath.resolve(entry.getName()).normalize();
+        if (!outputPath.startsWith(targetPath)) {
+          throw new IOException(
+              "Illegal path detected for Zip Entry: " + entry.getName()
+                  + ". This will try to write outside the target directory, which is not "
+                  + "allowed.");
+        }
         if (entry.isDirectory()) {
           Files.createDirectories(outputPath);
         } else {
diff --git a/cdap-kubernetes/src/test/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizerTest.java b/cdap-kubernetes/src/test/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2609f29c719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdap-kubernetes/src/test/java/io/cdap/cdap/k8s/runtime/FileLocalizerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2026 Cask Data, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
+ * use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
+ * the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+ * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+
+package io.cdap.cdap.k8s.runtime;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
+import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.TemporaryFolder;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link FileLocalizer}.
+ */
+public class FileLocalizerTest {
+
+  @Rule
+  public TemporaryFolder temporaryFolder = new TemporaryFolder();
+
+  private Path invokeExpand(InputStream zipInputStream, Path targetDir) throws Exception {
+    FileLocalizer fileLocalizer = new FileLocalizer(null, null);
+    Method expandMethod = FileLocalizer.class.getDeclaredMethod(
+        "expand", java.net.URI.class, InputStream.class, Path.class);
+    expandMethod.setAccessible(true);
+    try {
+      return (Path) expandMethod.invoke(fileLocalizer, java.net.URI.create("test:///archive.zip"),
+          zipInputStream, targetDir);
+    } catch (java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException e) {
+      if (e.getCause() instanceof IOException) {
+        throw (IOException) e.getCause();
+      }
+      throw e;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private byte[] createZip(String entryName, String content) throws IOException {
+    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    try (ZipOutputStream zos = new ZipOutputStream(baos)) {
+      zos.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(entryName));
+      zos.write(content.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+      zos.closeEntry();
+    }
+    return baos.toByteArray();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testExpandRejectsPathTraversalEntry() throws Exception {
+    Path targetDir = temporaryFolder.newFolder("pod-workdir", "archive-target").toPath();
+    byte[] maliciousZip = createZip("../../pwned_by_zipslip.txt", "attacker controlled content");
+
+    try {
+      invokeExpand(new ByteArrayInputStream(maliciousZip), targetDir);
+      Assert.fail("Expected IOException for a zip entry escaping the target directory");
+    } catch (IOException expected) {
+      Assert.assertTrue(expected.getMessage().contains("Illegal path detected"));
+    }
+
+    File escapedFile = temporaryFolder.getRoot().toPath().resolve("pwned_by_zipslip.txt").toFile();
+    Assert.assertFalse("File must not be written outside the target directory",
+        escapedFile.exists());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testExpandAllowsNormalEntry() throws Exception {
+    Path targetDir = temporaryFolder.newFolder("pod-workdir", "archive-target").toPath();
+    byte[] normalZip = createZip("config/settings.txt", "normal content");
+
+    invokeExpand(new ByteArrayInputStream(normalZip), targetDir);
+
+    Path expandedFile = targetDir.resolve("config/settings.txt");
+    Assert.assertTrue("Legitimate entry should still be extracted", Files.exists(expandedFile));
+    Assert.assertEquals("normal content",
+        new String(Files.readAllBytes(expandedFile), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+  }
+}