diff --git a/go/os2/file.go b/go/os2/file.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7c284ed1fc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/os2/file.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Vitess Authors.
+
+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 os2
+
+import (
+	"io/fs"
+	"os"
+)
+
+const (
+	// PermFile is a FileMode for regular files without world permission bits.
+	PermFile fs.FileMode = 0660
+	// PermDirectory is a FileMode for directories without world permission bits.
+	PermDirectory fs.FileMode = 0770
+)
+
+// Create is identical to os.Create except uses 0660 permission
+// rather than 0666, to exclude world read/write bit.
+func Create(name string) (*os.File, error) {
+	return os.OpenFile(name, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, PermFile)
+}
+
+// WriteFile is identical to os.WriteFile except permission of 0660 is used.
+func WriteFile(name string, data []byte) error {
+	return os.WriteFile(name, data, PermFile)
+}
+
+// Mkdir is identical to os.Mkdir except permission of 0770 is used.
+func Mkdir(path string) error {
+	return os.Mkdir(path, PermDirectory)
+}
+
+// MkdirAll is identical to os.MkdirAll except permission of 0770 is used.
+func MkdirAll(path string) error {
+	return os.MkdirAll(path, PermDirectory)
+}
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/backup/vtctlbackup/backup_utils.go b/go/test/endtoend/backup/vtctlbackup/backup_utils.go
index 86b2612a044..8db1ed719ef 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/backup/vtctlbackup/backup_utils.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/backup/vtctlbackup/backup_utils.go
@@ -425,6 +425,18 @@ func TestBackup(t *testing.T, setupType int, streamMode string, stripes int, cDe
 			return vterrors.Errorf(vtrpc.Code_UNKNOWN, "test failure: %s", test.name)
 		}
 	}
+
+	t.Run("check for files created with global permissions", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Logf("Confirming that none of the MySQL data directories that we've created have files with global permissions")
+		for _, ks := range localCluster.Keyspaces {
+			for _, shard := range ks.Shards {
+				for _, tablet := range shard.Vttablets {
+					tablet.VttabletProcess.ConfirmDataDirHasNoGlobalPerms(t)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/cluster/vttablet_process.go b/go/test/endtoend/cluster/vttablet_process.go
index 6c7a85ec533..fa777b25952 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/cluster/vttablet_process.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/cluster/vttablet_process.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/fs"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -35,6 +36,8 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/constants/sidecar"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/sqltypes"
@@ -703,6 +706,63 @@ func (vttablet *VttabletProcess) IsShutdown() bool {
 	return vttablet.proc == nil
 }
 
+// ConfirmDataDirHasNoGlobalPerms confirms that no files in the tablet's data directory
+// have any global/world/other permissions enabled.
+func (vttablet *VttabletProcess) ConfirmDataDirHasNoGlobalPerms(t *testing.T) {
+	datadir := vttablet.Directory
+	if _, err := os.Stat(datadir); errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		t.Logf("Data directory %s no longer exists, skipping permissions check", datadir)
+		return
+	}
+
+	var allowedFiles = []string{
+		// These are intentionally created with the world/other read bit set by mysqld itself
+		// during the --initialize[-insecure] step.
+		// See: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-security-excerpt/en/creating-ssl-rsa-files-using-mysql.html
+		// "On Unix and Unix-like systems, the file access mode is 644 for certificate files
+		// (that is, world readable) and 600 for key files (that is, accessible only by the
+		// account that runs the server)."
+		path.Join("data", "ca.pem"),
+		path.Join("data", "client-cert.pem"),
+		path.Join("data", "public_key.pem"),
+		path.Join("data", "server-cert.pem"),
+		// The domain socket must have global perms for anyone to use it.
+		"mysql.sock",
+		// These files are created by xtrabackup.
+		path.Join("tmp", "xtrabackup_checkpoints"),
+		path.Join("tmp", "xtrabackup_info"),
+	}
+
+	var matches []string
+	fsys := os.DirFS(datadir)
+	err := fs.WalkDir(fsys, ".", func(p string, d fs.DirEntry, _ error) error {
+		// first check if the file should be skipped
+		for _, name := range allowedFiles {
+			if strings.HasSuffix(p, name) {
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
+
+		info, err := d.Info()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// check if any global bit is on the filemode
+		if info.Mode()&0007 != 0 {
+			matches = append(matches, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s (%s)",
+				path.Join(datadir, p),
+				info.Mode(),
+			))
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Error walking directory")
+	require.Empty(t, matches, "Found files with global permissions: %s\n", strings.Join(matches, "\n"))
+}
+
 // VttabletProcessInstance returns a VttabletProcess handle for vttablet process
 // configured with the given Config.
 // The process must be manually started by calling setup()
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
index fb3d0e2d125..6baddb0fc5c 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/replication"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/os2"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/logutil"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstats"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage"
@@ -723,7 +724,7 @@ func createStateFile(cnf *Mycnf) error {
 	// rename func to openStateFile
 	// change to return a *File
 	fname := filepath.Join(cnf.TabletDir(), RestoreState)
-	fd, err := os.Create(fname)
+	fd, err := os2.Create(fname)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create file: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
index 5aa759f6f7a..752a0d72d5d 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/ioutil"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/replication"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/os2"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/protoutil"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/concurrency"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/log"
@@ -198,10 +199,10 @@ func (fe *FileEntry) open(cnf *Mycnf, readOnly bool) (*os.File, error) {
 		}
 	} else {
 		dir := path.Dir(name)
-		if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+		if err := os2.MkdirAll(dir); err != nil {
 			return nil, vterrors.Wrapf(err, "cannot create destination directory %v", dir)
 		}
-		if fd, err = os.Create(name); err != nil {
+		if fd, err = os2.Create(name); err != nil {
 			return nil, vterrors.Wrapf(err, "cannot create destination file %v", name)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
index 99148d9169b..9c3e8165e2c 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/ioutil"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/os2"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/concurrency"
 	stats "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstats"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage"
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ func (fbh *FileBackupHandle) AddFile(ctx context.Context, filename string, files
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("AddFile cannot be called on read-only backup")
 	}
 	p := path.Join(FileBackupStorageRoot, fbh.dir, fbh.name, filename)
-	f, err := os.Create(p)
+	f, err := os2.Create(p)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -186,13 +187,13 @@ func (fbs *FileBackupStorage) ListBackups(ctx context.Context, dir string) ([]ba
 func (fbs *FileBackupStorage) StartBackup(ctx context.Context, dir, name string) (backupstorage.BackupHandle, error) {
 	// Make sure the directory exists.
 	p := path.Join(FileBackupStorageRoot, dir)
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(p, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+	if err := os2.MkdirAll(p); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// Create the subdirectory for this named backup.
 	p = path.Join(p, name)
-	if err := os.Mkdir(p, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+	if err := os2.Mkdir(p); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
index 72c1d8f6658..f42c68fb52f 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/config"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/sqlerror"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/os2"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/protoutil"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/sqltypes"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/dbconfigs"
@@ -900,7 +901,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) initConfig(cnf *Mycnf, outFile string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return os.WriteFile(outFile, []byte(configData), 0o664)
+	return os2.WriteFile(outFile, []byte(configData))
 }
 
 func (mysqld *Mysqld) getMycnfTemplate() string {
@@ -1050,7 +1051,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) ReinitConfig(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf) error {
 func (mysqld *Mysqld) createDirs(cnf *Mycnf) error {
 	tabletDir := cnf.TabletDir()
 	log.Infof("creating directory %s", tabletDir)
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(tabletDir, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+	if err := os2.MkdirAll(tabletDir); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, dir := range TopLevelDirs() {
@@ -1060,7 +1061,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) createDirs(cnf *Mycnf) error {
 	}
 	for _, dir := range cnf.directoryList() {
 		log.Infof("creating directory %s", dir)
-		if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+		if err := os2.MkdirAll(dir); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		// FIXME(msolomon) validate permissions?
@@ -1084,14 +1085,14 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) createTopDir(cnf *Mycnf, dir string) error {
 		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 			topdir := path.Join(tabletDir, dir)
 			log.Infof("creating directory %s", topdir)
-			return os.MkdirAll(topdir, os.ModePerm)
+			return os2.MkdirAll(topdir)
 		}
 		return err
 	}
 	linkto := path.Join(target, vtname)
 	source := path.Join(tabletDir, dir)
 	log.Infof("creating directory %s", linkto)
-	err = os.MkdirAll(linkto, os.ModePerm)
+	err = os2.MkdirAll(linkto)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}