diff --git a/internal/pkg/overlay/overlay.go b/internal/pkg/overlay/overlay.go
index 6d45cd19..e48427bd 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/overlay/overlay.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/overlay/overlay.go
@@ -66,8 +66,22 @@ func (overlay Overlay) Rootfs() string {
 //
 // Returns:
 //   - The full path to the specified file in the overlay's rootfs.
+//     If the specified path does not exist in the overlay, the empty string is returned.
 func (overlay Overlay) File(filePath string) string {
-	return path.Join(overlay.Rootfs(), filePath)
+	rootfs := overlay.Rootfs()
+	fullPath := path.Join(rootfs, filePath)
+	cleanPath := filepath.Clean(fullPath)
+	cleanRootfs := filepath.Clean(rootfs)
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(cleanRootfs, cleanPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(rel, "..") {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	return cleanPath
 }
 
 // Exists checks whether the overlay path exists and is a directory.
diff --git a/internal/pkg/warewulfd/api/overlay.go b/internal/pkg/warewulfd/api/overlay.go
index 11b3fe12..870d828b 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/warewulfd/api/overlay.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/warewulfd/api/overlay.go
@@ -259,9 +259,9 @@ func deleteOverlay() usecase.Interactor {
 
 func deleteOverlayFile() usecase.Interactor {
 	type deleteOverlayFileInput struct {
-		Name    string `path:"name" required:"true" description:"Name of overlay to get a file from"`
-		Path    string `query:"path" required:"true" description:"Path to file to get from an overlay"`
-		Force   bool   `query:"force" default:"false" description:"Whether to forcely delete a overlay, default:'false'"`
+		Name    string `path:"name" required:"true" description:"Name of overlay to delete a file from"`
+		Path    string `query:"path" required:"true" description:"Path to file to delete from an overlay"`
+		Force   bool   `query:"force" default:"false" description:"Whether to forcefully delete an overlay file, default:'false'"`
 		Cleanup bool   `query:"cleanup" default:"false" description:"Whether to cleanup empty parent directories, default:'false'"`
 	}