diff --git a/docs/release-notes.md b/docs/release-notes.md
index 95d3ad5a66..8a2280f00d 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/release-notes.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ nav_order: 9
 ### Bug fixes
 
 - Resolve intermediate symlinks in relabel paths, fixing SELinux relabeling failures for users with `home_dir` on OSTree platforms after policycoreutils 3.11 ([#2316](https://github.com/coreos/ignition/pull/2316))
+- Drop supplementary groups when dropping privileges to write files as a user ([#2242](https://github.com/coreos/ignition/issues/2242))
 
 ## Ignition 2.27.0 (2026-08-26)
 
diff --git a/internal/as_user/as_user.c b/internal/as_user/as_user.c
index f84b464803..386f998ba7 100644
--- a/internal/as_user/as_user.c
+++ b/internal/as_user/as_user.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#include <grp.h>
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -54,7 +55,9 @@ typedef struct au_thread_ctxt {
 	int		err;
 } au_thread_ctxt_t;
 
-/* set_eids() sets the effective gid and uid of the calling thread to ids */
+/* set_eids() drops the supplementary groups and sets the effective gid and
+ * uid of the calling thread to ids
+ */
 static int set_eids(au_ids_t *ids) {
 	uid_t	cu;
 	gid_t	cg;
@@ -64,6 +67,14 @@ static int set_eids(au_ids_t *ids) {
 	cu = geteuid();
 	cg = getegid();
 
+	/* Drop the supplementary groups inherited from the caller before
+	 * relinquishing the gid and uid, while we still have the privilege
+	 * required to do so.  Otherwise the thread would keep root's group
+	 * memberships while acting as the target user.
+	 */
+	if(setgroups(0, NULL) == -1)
+		return -1;
+
 	if(cg != ids->gid && setregid(-1, ids->gid) == -1)
 		return -1;
 
diff --git a/internal/as_user/as_user_test.go b/internal/as_user/as_user_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..08319f7c18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/as_user/as_user_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Jason Colapietro
+//
+// 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.
+
+//go:build linux && cgo
+
+package as_user_test
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"os/user"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
+	"syscall"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/ignition/v2/internal/as_user"
+)
+
+// TestOpenFileDropsSupplementaryGroups verifies that OpenFile drops inherited
+// supplementary groups, preserves target-user access, and leaves the caller's
+// groups unchanged. It requires root and isolates credentials in a subprocess.
+func TestOpenFileDropsSupplementaryGroups(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Geteuid() != 0 {
+		t.Skip("test requires root")
+	}
+
+	const helperEnv = "IGNITION_TEST_SUPPLEMENTARY_GROUPS"
+	if os.Getenv(helperEnv) != "1" {
+		// Set the supplementary groups only in a subprocess so the test
+		// runner's credentials cannot be changed by this test.
+		cmd := exec.Command(os.Args[0], "-test.run=^TestOpenFileDropsSupplementaryGroups$", "-test.v")
+		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), helperEnv+"=1")
+		cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{
+			Credential: &syscall.Credential{Uid: 0, Gid: 0, Groups: []uint32{4242}},
+		}
+		if output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("subprocess failed: %v\n%s", err, output)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Unlike t.TempDir's parent directory, this directory can be traversed
+	// by the unprivileged user after its permissions are changed.
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "ignition-as-user-")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+	})
+	if err := os.Chmod(dir, 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	u := &user.User{Uid: "65534", Gid: "65534"}
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		name string
+		uid  int
+		gid  int
+		mode os.FileMode
+		want error
+	}{
+		{"supplementary group only", 0, 4242, 0070, syscall.EACCES},
+		{"target user owned", 65534, 65534, 0700, nil},
+	} {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			path := filepath.Join(dir, test.name)
+			if err := os.Mkdir(path, 0700); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if err := os.Chown(path, test.uid, test.gid); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if err := os.Chmod(path, test.mode); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			f, err := as_user.OpenFile(u, filepath.Join(path, "file"), os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_EXCL, 0600)
+			if f != nil {
+				if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+					t.Error(err)
+				}
+			}
+			if !errors.Is(err, test.want) {
+				t.Fatalf("OpenFile returned %v, want %v", err, test.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	groups, err := syscall.Getgroups()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(groups, []int{4242}) {
+		t.Fatalf("OpenFile changed the caller's supplementary groups: %v", groups)
+	}
+}