diff --git a/news/13528.bugfix.rst b/news/13528.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3d42b06dd3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/13528.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+selfcheck file in cache directory has same permissions as the rest of the cache.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/network/cache.py b/src/pip/_internal/network/cache.py
index 0c5961c45b4..2a372f2e008 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/network/cache.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/network/cache.py
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@
 from pip._vendor.cachecontrol.caches import SeparateBodyFileCache
 from pip._vendor.requests.models import Response
 
-from pip._internal.utils.filesystem import adjacent_tmp_file, replace
+from pip._internal.utils.filesystem import (
+    adjacent_tmp_file,
+    copy_directory_permissions,
+    replace,
+)
 from pip._internal.utils.misc import ensure_dir
 
 
@@ -82,16 +86,7 @@ def _write_to_file(self, path: str, writer_func: Callable[[BinaryIO], Any]) -> N
                 writer_func(f)
                 # Inherit the read/write permissions of the cache directory
                 # to enable multi-user cache use-cases.
-                mode = (
-                    os.stat(self.directory).st_mode
-                    & 0o666  # select read/write permissions of cache directory
-                    | 0o600  # set owner read/write permissions
-                )
-                # Change permissions only if there is no risk of following a symlink.
-                if os.chmod in os.supports_fd:
-                    os.chmod(f.fileno(), mode)
-                elif os.chmod in os.supports_follow_symlinks:
-                    os.chmod(f.name, mode, follow_symlinks=False)
+                copy_directory_permissions(self.directory, f)
 
             replace(f.name, path)
 
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/self_outdated_check.py b/src/pip/_internal/self_outdated_check.py
index ca507f113a4..5999ddb3737 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/self_outdated_check.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/self_outdated_check.py
@@ -27,7 +27,12 @@
     get_best_invocation_for_this_pip,
     get_best_invocation_for_this_python,
 )
-from pip._internal.utils.filesystem import adjacent_tmp_file, check_path_owner, replace
+from pip._internal.utils.filesystem import (
+    adjacent_tmp_file,
+    check_path_owner,
+    copy_directory_permissions,
+    replace,
+)
 from pip._internal.utils.misc import (
     ExternallyManagedEnvironment,
     check_externally_managed,
@@ -100,13 +105,15 @@ def set(self, pypi_version: str, current_time: datetime.datetime) -> None:
         if not self._statefile_path:
             return
 
+        statefile_directory = os.path.dirname(self._statefile_path)
+
         # Check to make sure that we own the directory
-        if not check_path_owner(os.path.dirname(self._statefile_path)):
+        if not check_path_owner(statefile_directory):
             return
 
         # Now that we've ensured the directory is owned by this user, we'll go
         # ahead and make sure that all our directories are created.
-        ensure_dir(os.path.dirname(self._statefile_path))
+        ensure_dir(statefile_directory)
 
         state = {
             # Include the key so it's easy to tell which pip wrote the
@@ -120,6 +127,7 @@ def set(self, pypi_version: str, current_time: datetime.datetime) -> None:
 
         with adjacent_tmp_file(self._statefile_path) as f:
             f.write(text.encode())
+            copy_directory_permissions(statefile_directory, f)
 
         try:
             # Since we have a prefix-specific state file, we can just
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/utils/filesystem.py b/src/pip/_internal/utils/filesystem.py
index d7c05243876..dd7dee35838 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/utils/filesystem.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/utils/filesystem.py
@@ -150,3 +150,16 @@ def directory_size(path: str) -> int | float:
 
 def format_directory_size(path: str) -> str:
     return format_size(directory_size(path))
+
+
+def copy_directory_permissions(directory: str, target_file: BinaryIO) -> None:
+    mode = (
+        os.stat(directory).st_mode
+        & 0o666  # select read/write permissions of cache directory
+        | 0o600  # set owner read/write permissions
+    )
+    # Change permissions only if there is no risk of following a symlink.
+    if os.chmod in os.supports_fd:
+        os.chmod(target_file.fileno(), mode)
+    elif os.chmod in os.supports_follow_symlinks:
+        os.chmod(target_file.name, mode, follow_symlinks=False)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_self_check_outdated.py b/tests/unit/test_self_check_outdated.py
index 55e6928a57a..76d14999fc5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_self_check_outdated.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_self_check_outdated.py
@@ -190,6 +190,10 @@ def test_writes_expected_statefile(self, tmpdir: Path) -> None:
             "pypi_version": "1.0.0",
         }
 
+        statefile_permissions = os.stat(expected_path).st_mode & 0o666
+        selfcheckdir_permissions = os.stat(cache_dir / "selfcheck").st_mode & 0o666
+        assert statefile_permissions == selfcheckdir_permissions
+
 
 @patch("pip._internal.self_outdated_check._self_version_check_logic")
 def test_suppressed_by_externally_managed(mocked_function: Mock, tmpdir: Path) -> None: