diff --git a/Lib/shutil.py b/Lib/shutil.py
index f678601e6758ebc..c3d032e16694096 100644
--- a/Lib/shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py
@@ -292,6 +292,9 @@ def copyfile(src, dst, *, follow_symlinks=True):
     symlink will be created instead of copying the file it points to.
 
     """
+    return _copyfile(src, dst, follow_symlinks, private=False)
+
+def _copyfile(src, dst, follow_symlinks, *, private):
     sys.audit("shutil.copyfile", src, dst)
 
     if _samefile(src, dst):
@@ -328,7 +331,16 @@ def copyfile(src, dst, *, follow_symlinks=True):
     else:
         with open(src, 'rb') as fsrc:
             try:
-                with open(dst, 'wb') as fdst:
+                if private:
+                    def opener(path, flags):
+                        # Only the owner can access a new file until copystat()
+                        # applies the source mode. Setting xattrs needs write access.
+                        mode = os.fstat(fsrc.fileno()).st_mode & stat.S_IRWXU
+                        return os.open(path, flags, mode | stat.S_IWUSR)
+                    fdst = open(dst, 'wb', opener=opener)
+                else:
+                    fdst = open(dst, 'wb')
+                with fdst:
                     # macOS
                     if _HAS_FCOPYFILE:
                         try:
@@ -542,7 +554,7 @@ def copy2(src, dst, *, follow_symlinks=True):
             else:
                 raise
 
-    copyfile(src, dst, follow_symlinks=follow_symlinks)
+    _copyfile(src, dst, follow_symlinks, private=os.name == 'posix')
     copystat(src, dst, follow_symlinks=follow_symlinks)
     return dst
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_shutil.py b/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
index 1a1a77ecdaeb768..f5fff629e7a226c 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
@@ -1513,12 +1513,36 @@ def test_copy2_xattr(self):
         dst = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'bar')
         create_file(src, 'foo')
         os.setxattr(src, 'user.foo', b'42')
+        os.chmod(src, 0o444)
         shutil.copy2(src, dst)
         self.assertEqual(
                 os.getxattr(src, 'user.foo'),
                 os.getxattr(dst, 'user.foo'))
+        self.assertEqual(stat.S_IMODE(os.stat(dst).st_mode), 0o444)
         os.remove(dst)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(hasattr(os, 'listxattr'), 'requires os.listxattr')
+    def test_copy2_listxattr_permission_error(self):
+        tmp_dir = self.mkdtemp()
+        src = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'src')
+        create_file(src, 'contents')
+        for err, mode in ((errno.EACCES, 0o600), (errno.EPERM, 0o700)):
+            with self.subTest(errno=err, mode=mode), os_helper.temp_umask(0o022):
+                os.chmod(src, mode)
+                dst = os.path.join(tmp_dir, f'dst{err}')
+                error = PermissionError(err, os.strerror(err))
+
+                def deny_listxattr(*args, **kwargs):
+                    self.assertEqual(stat.S_IMODE(os.stat(dst).st_mode), mode)
+                    raise error
+
+                with unittest.mock.patch('os.listxattr', deny_listxattr):
+                    with self.assertRaises(PermissionError) as cm:
+                        shutil.copy2(src, dst)
+                self.assertIs(cm.exception, error)
+                self.assertEqual(stat.S_IMODE(os.stat(dst).st_mode), mode)
+                self.assertEqual(read_file(dst), 'contents')
+
     def test_copy_return_value(self):
         # copy and copy2 both return their destination path.
         for fn in (shutil.copy, shutil.copy2):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-00-57-00.gh-issue-59305.p7tA2r.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-00-57-00.gh-issue-59305.p7tA2r.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..263ed1a2a8904ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-24-00-57-00.gh-issue-59305.p7tA2r.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+On POSIX, :func:`shutil.copy2` creates new files with owner-only permissions
+until it applies the source metadata.