diff --git a/worker/backup_handler.go b/worker/backup_handler.go
index fcb2776eb82..f2edb2e084c 100644
--- a/worker/backup_handler.go
+++ b/worker/backup_handler.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -76,6 +77,16 @@ func backupName(since uint64, groupId uint32) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(backupNameFmt, since, groupId)
 }
 
+// cleanRelPath anchors path at the root and cleans it so that a leading
+// separator or any number of ".." segments can never resolve above a handler's
+// root. It mirrors the containment in http.Dir.Open. The "path" field of a
+// backup manifest is read back from the backup location, so a manifest planted
+// there must not be able to steer reads/writes outside the handler root.
+func cleanRelPath(path string) string {
+	sep := string(filepath.Separator)
+	return strings.TrimPrefix(filepath.Join(sep, filepath.FromSlash(path)), sep)
+}
+
 // UriHandler interface is implemented by URI scheme handlers.
 // When adding new scheme handles, for example 'azure://', an object will implement
 // this interface to supply Dgraph with a way to create or load backup files into DB.
@@ -161,7 +172,7 @@ func (h *fileHandler) FileExists(path string) bool      { return pathExist(h.Joi
 func (h *fileHandler) Read(path string) ([]byte, error) { return os.ReadFile(h.JoinPath(path)) }
 
 func (h *fileHandler) JoinPath(path string) string {
-	return filepath.Join(h.rootDir, h.prefix, path)
+	return filepath.Join(h.rootDir, h.prefix, cleanRelPath(path))
 }
 func (h *fileHandler) Stream(path string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	return os.Open(h.JoinPath(path))
@@ -288,7 +299,7 @@ func (h *s3Handler) FileExists(path string) bool {
 }
 
 func (h *s3Handler) JoinPath(path string) string {
-	return filepath.Join(h.bucketName, h.objectPrefix, path)
+	return filepath.Join(h.bucketName, h.objectPrefix, cleanRelPath(path))
 }
 
 func (h *s3Handler) Read(path string) ([]byte, error) {
@@ -410,5 +421,5 @@ func (h *s3Handler) Rename(srcPath, dstPath string) error {
 }
 
 func (h *s3Handler) getObjectPath(path string) string {
-	return filepath.Join(h.objectPrefix, path)
+	return filepath.Join(h.objectPrefix, cleanRelPath(path))
 }
diff --git a/worker/backup_handler_test.go b/worker/backup_handler_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ee138ca7013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/worker/backup_handler_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2017-2025 Istari Digital, Inc.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+package worker
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// escapesRoot reports whether target is outside base.
+func escapesRoot(t *testing.T, base, target string) bool {
+	t.Helper()
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(base, target)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	return rel == ".." || strings.HasPrefix(rel, ".."+string(filepath.Separator))
+}
+
+func TestFileHandlerJoinPathContainment(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	h := &fileHandler{rootDir: root + string(filepath.Separator), prefix: "backups"}
+	base := filepath.Join(root, "backups")
+
+	traversals := []string{
+		"../../../../etc/passwd",
+		"dgraph.20260101.120000.000/../../../../../../etc/shadow",
+		filepath.Join("..", "..", "secret.txt"),
+		"/etc/hosts",
+	}
+	for _, p := range traversals {
+		got := h.JoinPath(p)
+		require.Falsef(t, escapesRoot(t, base, got),
+			"JoinPath(%q) escaped handler root: %q", p, got)
+	}
+
+	// A legitimate relative backup path must be untouched.
+	good := filepath.Join("dgraph.20260101.120000.000", backupName(42, 1))
+	require.Equal(t, filepath.Join(base, good), h.JoinPath(good))
+}
+
+func TestS3HandlerGetObjectPathContainment(t *testing.T) {
+	h := &s3Handler{objectPrefix: "dgraph/backups"}
+
+	traversals := []string{
+		"../../../../etc/passwd",
+		"dgraph.1/../../../../other/secret",
+		"/etc/hosts",
+	}
+	for _, p := range traversals {
+		got := h.getObjectPath(p)
+		require.Falsef(t, strings.HasPrefix(got, ".."),
+			"getObjectPath(%q) escaped object prefix: %q", p, got)
+	}
+
+	// A legitimate relative object path must be untouched.
+	good := filepath.Join("dgraph.1", backupName(42, 1))
+	require.Equal(t, filepath.Join("dgraph/backups", good), h.getObjectPath(good))
+}