diff --git a/check-vulnerabilities/.safety-ignore.yml b/check-vulnerabilities/.safety-ignore.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c4c874fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/check-vulnerabilities/.safety-ignore.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2022 - 2026 ANSYS, Inc. and/or its affiliates.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+# copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+# SOFTWARE.
+
+# Safety ignore file for vulnerability checks
+# This file contains vulnerability IDs that are accepted/ignored
+# Format: YAML configuration for Safety CLI
+# Documentation: https://docs.pyup.io/docs/safety-20-policy-file
+
+security:
+  ignore-vulnerabilities:
+    # List of vulnerability IDs to ignore
+    # Example:
+    # 52495:
+    #   reason: "Accepted vulnerability"
+    #   expires: null
diff --git a/check-vulnerabilities/README.md b/check-vulnerabilities/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08212f452
--- /dev/null
+++ b/check-vulnerabilities/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# IMPORTANT: migration from `ignored-safety.txt` to `.safety-ignore.yml`
+
+We have migrated from using `ignored-safety.txt` to `.safety-ignore.yml` for managing ignored
+vulnerabilities. Especially for `ansys/actions` maintainers, make sure that whenever a new
+vulnerability is added to `.safety-ignore.yml`, it is also added to `ignored-safety.txt` until
+the migration is complete. This ensures that the CI checks continue to function correctly
+during the transition period.
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> The `ignored-safety.txt` file is still required for the consumers of this action to work properly. Old action
+> versions will continue to use `ignored-safety.txt` until repository maintainers upgrade to the latest
+> version of the action that supports `.safety-ignore.yml`.
diff --git a/check-vulnerabilities/action.yml b/check-vulnerabilities/action.yml
index 515746885..32f731a23 100644
--- a/check-vulnerabilities/action.yml
+++ b/check-vulnerabilities/action.yml
@@ -101,8 +101,21 @@ inputs:
   bandit-configfile:
     description: |
       Optional config file to use for selecting plugins, overriding defaults,
-      and customizing checks performed by bandit.
+      and customizing checks performed by bandit. Path location should be relative
+      to the repository root. If the provided file does not exist, the action will
+      fail with an error.
+    default: ''
+    required: false
+    type: string
 
+  safety-configfile:
+    description: |
+      Path to a custom .safety-ignore.yml policy file to use with safety.
+      If not provided, the action will use its default policy file. Path
+      location should be relative to the repository root. For instance, if the policy
+      file is located in the ``/config`` folder of the repository and is named
+      ``my-safety-policy.yml``, the input should be set to ``config/my-safety-policy.yml``.
+      If the provided file does not exist, the action will fail with an error.
     default: ''
     required: false
     type: string
@@ -461,25 +474,82 @@ runs:
           python -m pip install -r "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/requirements.txt"
         fi
 
-    - name:  "Install wget on Windows"
-      if: runner.os == 'Windows'
-      shell: pwsh
+    - name: "Validate configuration files"
+      id: validate-config-files
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        BANDIT_CONFIGFILE: ${{ inputs.bandit-configfile }}
+        SAFETY_CONFIGFILE: ${{ inputs.safety-configfile }}
       run: |
-        # Check if wget is installed - if not, install it
-        if (-not (Get-Command wget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-            Write-Host "wget is not installed. Installing using Chocolatey..."
-            # Install wget using Chocolatey
-            choco install wget -y
-        } else {
-            Write-Host "wget is already installed."
-        }
-
-    - name: "Download the list of ignored safety vulnerabilities"
+        # Initialize validation results
+        SAFETY_CONFIG_ERROR="false"
+        BANDIT_CONFIG_ERROR="false"
+
+        # Check if provided safety policy file exists
+        if [[ "${SAFETY_CONFIGFILE}" != "" ]]; then
+          if [[ ! -f "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${SAFETY_CONFIGFILE}" ]]; then
+            SAFETY_CONFIG_ERROR="true"
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        # Check if provided bandit config file exists
+        if [[ "${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}" != "" ]]; then
+          if [[ ! -f "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}" ]]; then
+            BANDIT_CONFIG_ERROR="true"
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        # Set outputs
+        echo "SAFETY_CONFIG_ERROR=${SAFETY_CONFIG_ERROR}" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}
+        echo "BANDIT_CONFIG_ERROR=${BANDIT_CONFIG_ERROR}" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}
+
+    - uses: ansys/actions/_logging@main
+      if: ${{ steps.validate-config-files.outputs.SAFETY_CONFIG_ERROR == 'true' }}
+      with:
+        level: "ERROR"
+        message: >
+          The provided safety policy file '${{ inputs.safety-configfile }}' does not exist in the repository.
+
+    - uses: ansys/actions/_logging@main
+      if: ${{ steps.validate-config-files.outputs.BANDIT_CONFIG_ERROR == 'true' }}
+      with:
+        level: "ERROR"
+        message: >
+          The provided bandit config file '${{ inputs.bandit-configfile }}' does not exist in the repository.
+
+    - uses: ansys/actions/_logging@main
+      with:
+        level: "INFO"
+        message: >
+          Running safety vulnerability checks.
+
+    - name: "Run safety checks"
       shell: bash
+      continue-on-error: true
+      env:
+        ACTIVATE_VENV_BANDIT_SAFETY: ${{ steps.virtual-environment-activation-command.outputs.ACTIVATE_VENV_BANDIT_SAFETY }}
+        SAFETY_CONFIGFILE: ${{ inputs.safety-configfile }}
       run: |
-        wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ansys/actions/main/check-vulnerabilities/ignored-safety.txt
+        ${ACTIVATE_VENV_BANDIT_SAFETY}
+        # Set the safety policy file to use
+        if [[ "${SAFETY_CONFIGFILE}" == "" ]]; then
+          SAFETY_POLICY_FILE="${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/.safety-ignore.yml"
+          echo "Using default safety policy file: ${SAFETY_POLICY_FILE}"
+        else
+          SAFETY_POLICY_FILE="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${SAFETY_CONFIGFILE}"
+          echo "Using custom safety policy file: ${SAFETY_POLICY_FILE}"
+        fi
+
+        # Run safety vulnerability checks
+        safety check -o bare --save-json info_safety.json --continue-on-error --policy-file "${SAFETY_POLICY_FILE}" -r "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/requirements-for-safety.txt"
+
+    - uses: ansys/actions/_logging@main
+      with:
+        level: "INFO"
+        message: >
+          Running bandit security checks.
 
-    - name: "Run safety and bandit"
+    - name: "Run bandit checks"
       shell: bash
       continue-on-error: true
       env:
@@ -488,21 +558,16 @@ runs:
         SOURCE_DIRECTORY: ${{ inputs.source-directory }}
       run: |
         ${ACTIVATE_VENV_BANDIT_SAFETY}
-        # Load accepted safety vulnerabilities
-        mapfile ignored_safety_vulnerabilities < ignored-safety.txt
-        ignored_vulnerabilities=''
-        for pckg in ${ignored_safety_vulnerabilities[*]}; do ignored_vulnerabilities+="-i $pckg "; done
-          ignored_safety_vulnerabilities=${ignored_safety_vulnerabilities::-1}
-        echo "Ignored safety vulnerabilities: $ignored_vulnerabilities"
-
-        # Run security tools
-        safety check -o bare --save-json info_safety.json --continue-on-error $ignored_vulnerabilities -r "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/requirements-for-safety.txt"
-
+        # Set the bandit config file to use
         if [[ "${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}" == "" ]]; then
           CONFIGFILE=""
+          echo "Using default bandit configuration"
         else
-          CONFIGFILE="-c ${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}"
+          CONFIGFILE="-c ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}"
+          echo "Using custom bandit config file: ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${BANDIT_CONFIGFILE}"
         fi
+
+        # Run bandit security checks
         bandit ${CONFIGFILE} -r "${SOURCE_DIRECTORY}" -o info_bandit.json -f json --exit-zero
 
     - name: "Run advisory checks"
diff --git a/doc/source/changelog/1215.added.md b/doc/source/changelog/1215.added.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f546a8ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/changelog/1215.added.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Migrate to using \`\`.safety-ignore.yml\`\` file
diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index c1d9c3eb7..29e392a4e 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 ACTIONS_INPUTS_FIELDS = ("description", "required", "type", "default")
 ACCEPTED_LICENSES = BASE_DIR / "check-licenses" / "accepted-licenses.txt"
 IGNORED_PACKAGES = BASE_DIR / "check-licenses" / "ignored-packages.txt"
-IGNORED_SAFETY = BASE_DIR / "check-vulnerabilities" / "ignored-safety.txt"
+IGNORED_SAFETY = BASE_DIR / "check-vulnerabilities" / ".safety-ignore.yml"
 
 # Project information
 project = "Ansys Actions"
@@ -312,8 +312,27 @@ def get_example_file_title(example_file):
     ]
 
 
-# Dynamically load the file contents for accepted licenses and ignored packages
-def load_file_lines_as_list(file_path):
+def load_safety_ignore_vulnerabilities(file_path: pathlib.Path):
+    """Loads the vulnerability IDs from the safety ignore YAML file.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    file_path : ~pathlib.Path
+        The ``Path`` instance representing the YAML file location.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[str]
+        A list of vulnerability ID strings.
+
+    """
+    with file_path.open() as safety_ignore_file:
+        data = yaml.safe_load(safety_ignore_file)
+        vulnerabilities = data.get("security", {}).get("ignore-vulnerabilities", {})
+        return list(vulnerabilities.keys()) if vulnerabilities else []
+
+
+def load_file_lines_as_list(file_path: pathlib.Path):
     """Loads the lines of a file in the form of a Python list.
 
     Parameters
@@ -331,7 +350,7 @@ def load_file_lines_as_list(file_path):
     This function is expected to be used for loading the contents of TXT files.
 
     """
-    with open(file_path) as accepted_licenses_file:
+    with file_path.open() as accepted_licenses_file:
         return list(accepted_licenses_file.read().split("\n"))
 
 
@@ -342,8 +361,8 @@ def load_file_lines_as_list(file_path):
     jinja_contexts["check-licenses"][var] = load_file_lines_as_list(file)
 
 # Check vulnerabilities
-jinja_contexts["check-vulnerabilities"]["ignored_safety"] = load_file_lines_as_list(
-    IGNORED_SAFETY
+jinja_contexts["check-vulnerabilities"]["ignored_safety"] = (
+    load_safety_ignore_vulnerabilities(IGNORED_SAFETY)
 )