diff --git a/contrib/reproducibility/figures/make-pareto-optimal-figures.py b/contrib/reproducibility/figures/make-pareto-optimal-figures.py
index 72c3fad26..f774c9068 100755
--- a/contrib/reproducibility/figures/make-pareto-optimal-figures.py
+++ b/contrib/reproducibility/figures/make-pareto-optimal-figures.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def copy_subset(files: [str], output: str, n: int | None) -> None:
 
     subset = random.sample(files, min(n, len(files))) if n is not None else files
 
-    with open(f"{output}.txt", "w") as f:
+    with open(os.path.realpath(f"{output}.txt"), "w") as f:
         for idx, file in enumerate(subset):
             shutil.copy(file, os.path.join(output, f"{idx}"))
             f.write(f"{file}\n")
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ def main():
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
+    args.output = os.path.realpath(args.output)
     os.makedirs(os.path.join(args.output, "bin"), exist_ok=True)
     shutil.copy(args.lzbench, os.path.join(args.output, "bin"))
     if args.zli is None:
diff --git a/tests/test_invariant_make-pareto-optimal-figures.py b/tests/test_invariant_make-pareto-optimal-figures.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f124bfd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_invariant_make-pareto-optimal-figures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import pytest
+import os
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# Add the project root to sys.path to import the script
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent))
+
+# Import the actual production module
+from contrib.reproducibility.figures.make_pareto_optimal_figures import main
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("payload", [
+    "../../../etc/passwd",           # Classic path traversal
+    "....//....//etc/passwd",        # Double dot slash obfuscation
+    "%2e%2e%2fetc%2fpasswd",         # URL encoded traversal
+    "valid_input.txt",               # Valid input (should work)
+    "/absolute/path/etc/passwd",     # Absolute path attempt
+])
+def test_file_operations_stay_within_root_directory(payload):
+    """Invariant: File operations never resolve paths outside the declared root directory"""
+    
+    # Create a temporary root directory for testing
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_root:
+        # Create a valid input file for the valid test case
+        if payload == "valid_input.txt":
+            valid_file = Path(tmp_root) / "valid_input.txt"
+            valid_file.write_text("test content")
+        
+        # Create a test output directory
+        output_dir = Path(tmp_root) / "output"
+        output_dir.mkdir()
+        
+        # Save original working directory
+        original_cwd = os.getcwd()
+        
+        try:
+            # Change to the temporary root directory
+            os.chdir(tmp_root)
+            
+            # Prepare arguments for the main function
+            # The script expects specific arguments; we'll simulate a minimal call
+            # Based on typical usage: python make_pareto_optimal-figures.py [input_dir] [output_dir]
+            test_args = [
+                "make_pareto_optimal-figures.py",
+                ".",  # Input directory (current directory)
+                "output"  # Output directory
+            ]
+            
+            # Save original sys.argv
+            original_argv = sys.argv
+            
+            try:
+                sys.argv = test_args
+                
+                # Run the main function - it should handle file operations
+                # If it tries to access paths outside tmp_root, it will fail
+                main()
+                
+                # If we get here without exception, verify no files were created outside tmp_root
+                # Check that all files in output directory are within our temp root
+                for root, dirs, files in os.walk(tmp_root):
+                    for file in files:
+                        full_path = os.path.join(root, file)
+                        # Ensure the resolved path is within our temporary root
+                        assert os.path.commonpath([tmp_root, os.path.realpath(full_path)]) == tmp_root, \
+                            f"File {full_path} resolved outside root directory {tmp_root}"
+                
+            finally:
+                sys.argv = original_argv
+                
+        finally:
+            # Restore original working directory
+            os.chdir(original_cwd)
\ No newline at end of file