diff --git a/internal/assertions/equal.go b/internal/assertions/equal.go
index 223df40d7..2765cb543 100644
--- a/internal/assertions/equal.go
+++ b/internal/assertions/equal.go
@@ -350,77 +350,103 @@ func formatUnequalValues(expected, actual any) (e string, a string) {
 // copyExportedFields iterates downward through nested data structures and creates a copy
 // that only contains the exported struct fields.
 func copyExportedFields(expected any) any {
+	return copyExportedFieldsRec(expected, make(map[uintptr]struct{}))
+}
+
+// copyExportedFieldsRec carries a set of pointers currently being visited on the
+// recursion path, so that cyclic pointer references break the recursion instead
+// of overflowing the goroutine stack.
+func copyExportedFieldsRec(expected any, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) any {
 	if isNil(expected) {
 		return expected
 	}
 
 	expectedType := reflect.TypeOf(expected)
-	expectedKind := expectedType.Kind()
 	expectedValue := reflect.ValueOf(expected)
 
-	switch expectedKind {
+	switch expectedType.Kind() {
 	case reflect.Struct:
-		result := reflect.New(expectedType).Elem()
-		for i := range expectedType.NumField() {
-			field := expectedType.Field(i)
-			isExported := field.IsExported()
-			if isExported {
-				fieldValue := expectedValue.Field(i)
-				if isNil(fieldValue) || isNil(fieldValue.Interface()) {
-					continue
-				}
-				newValue := copyExportedFields(fieldValue.Interface())
-				result.Field(i).Set(reflect.ValueOf(newValue))
-			}
-		}
-		return result.Interface()
-
+		return copyExportedStruct(expectedType, expectedValue, visited)
 	case reflect.Pointer:
-		result := reflect.New(expectedType.Elem())
-		unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFields(expectedValue.Elem().Interface())
-		if unexportedRemoved != nil {
-			result.Elem().Set(reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
-		}
-		return result.Interface()
-
+		return copyExportedPointer(expected, expectedType, expectedValue, visited)
 	case reflect.Array, reflect.Slice:
-		var result reflect.Value
-		if expectedKind == reflect.Array {
-			result = reflect.New(reflect.ArrayOf(expectedValue.Len(), expectedType.Elem())).Elem()
-		} else {
-			result = reflect.MakeSlice(expectedType, expectedValue.Len(), expectedValue.Len())
+		return copyExportedSequence(expectedType, expectedValue, visited)
+	case reflect.Map:
+		return copyExportedMap(expectedType, expectedValue, visited)
+	default:
+		return expected
+	}
+}
+
+func copyExportedStruct(expectedType reflect.Type, expectedValue reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) any {
+	result := reflect.New(expectedType).Elem()
+	for i := range expectedType.NumField() {
+		if !expectedType.Field(i).IsExported() {
+			continue
 		}
-		for i := range expectedValue.Len() {
-			index := expectedValue.Index(i)
-			if !index.CanInterface() {
-				// this should not be possible with current reflect, since values are retrieved from an array or slice, not a struct
-				panic(fmt.Errorf("internal error: can't resolve Interface() for value %v", index))
-			}
-			unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFields(index.Interface())
-			if unexportedRemoved != nil {
-				result.Index(i).Set(reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
-			}
+		fieldValue := expectedValue.Field(i)
+		if isNil(fieldValue) || isNil(fieldValue.Interface()) {
+			continue
 		}
-		return result.Interface()
+		newValue := copyExportedFieldsRec(fieldValue.Interface(), visited)
+		result.Field(i).Set(reflect.ValueOf(newValue))
+	}
+	return result.Interface()
+}
 
-	case reflect.Map:
-		result := reflect.MakeMap(expectedType)
-		for _, k := range expectedValue.MapKeys() {
-			index := expectedValue.MapIndex(k)
-			if !index.CanInterface() {
-				// this should not be possible with current reflect, since values are retrieved from a map, not a struct
-				panic(fmt.Errorf("internal error: can't resolve Interface() for value %v", index))
-			}
-			unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFields(index.Interface())
-			if unexportedRemoved != nil {
-				result.SetMapIndex(k, reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
-			}
+func copyExportedPointer(expected any, expectedType reflect.Type, expectedValue reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) any {
+	// Guard against cyclic pointer references: if this pointer is already
+	// on the current recursion path, return it as-is to break the cycle.
+	ptr := expectedValue.Pointer()
+	if _, ok := visited[ptr]; ok {
+		return expected
+	}
+	visited[ptr] = struct{}{}
+	defer delete(visited, ptr)
+
+	result := reflect.New(expectedType.Elem())
+	unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFieldsRec(expectedValue.Elem().Interface(), visited)
+	if unexportedRemoved != nil {
+		result.Elem().Set(reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
+	}
+	return result.Interface()
+}
+
+func copyExportedSequence(expectedType reflect.Type, expectedValue reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) any {
+	var result reflect.Value
+	if expectedType.Kind() == reflect.Array {
+		result = reflect.New(reflect.ArrayOf(expectedValue.Len(), expectedType.Elem())).Elem()
+	} else {
+		result = reflect.MakeSlice(expectedType, expectedValue.Len(), expectedValue.Len())
+	}
+	for i := range expectedValue.Len() {
+		index := expectedValue.Index(i)
+		if !index.CanInterface() {
+			// this should not be possible with current reflect, since values are retrieved from an array or slice, not a struct
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("internal error: can't resolve Interface() for value %v", index))
+		}
+		unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFieldsRec(index.Interface(), visited)
+		if unexportedRemoved != nil {
+			result.Index(i).Set(reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
 		}
-		return result.Interface()
+	}
+	return result.Interface()
+}
 
-	default:
-		return expected
+func copyExportedMap(expectedType reflect.Type, expectedValue reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) any {
+	result := reflect.MakeMap(expectedType)
+	for _, k := range expectedValue.MapKeys() {
+		index := expectedValue.MapIndex(k)
+		if !index.CanInterface() {
+			// this should not be possible with current reflect, since values are retrieved from a map, not a struct
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("internal error: can't resolve Interface() for value %v", index))
+		}
+		unexportedRemoved := copyExportedFieldsRec(index.Interface(), visited)
+		if unexportedRemoved != nil {
+			result.SetMapIndex(k, reflect.ValueOf(unexportedRemoved))
+		}
 	}
+	return result.Interface()
 }
 
 func isFunction(arg any) bool {
diff --git a/internal/assertions/equal_unary.go b/internal/assertions/equal_unary.go
index 5b7b638eb..e18326a13 100644
--- a/internal/assertions/equal_unary.go
+++ b/internal/assertions/equal_unary.go
@@ -141,6 +141,13 @@ func isEmpty(object any) bool {
 
 // isEmptyValue gets whether the specified reflect.Value is considered empty or not.
 func isEmptyValue(objValue reflect.Value) bool {
+	return isEmptyValueRec(objValue, nil)
+}
+
+// isEmptyValueRec carries the set of pointers already followed on the current
+// recursion path, so that a cyclic pointer chain (e.g. type P *P with p = &p)
+// breaks the recursion instead of overflowing the goroutine stack.
+func isEmptyValueRec(objValue reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]struct{}) bool {
 	if objValue.IsZero() {
 		return true
 	}
@@ -152,7 +159,16 @@ func isEmptyValue(objValue reflect.Value) bool {
 		return objValue.Len() == 0
 	// non-nil pointers are empty if the value they point to is empty
 	case reflect.Pointer:
-		return isEmptyValue(objValue.Elem())
+		ptr := objValue.Pointer()
+		if _, ok := visited[ptr]; ok {
+			// a cyclic, non-nil pointer chain is not empty
+			return false
+		}
+		if visited == nil {
+			visited = make(map[uintptr]struct{})
+		}
+		visited[ptr] = struct{}{}
+		return isEmptyValueRec(objValue.Elem(), visited)
 	default:
 		return false
 	}
diff --git a/internal/assertions/error.go b/internal/assertions/error.go
index fedd48a69..e912afb02 100644
--- a/internal/assertions/error.go
+++ b/internal/assertions/error.go
@@ -271,21 +271,39 @@ func NotErrorAs(t T, err error, target any, msgAndArgs ...any) bool {
 	), msgAndArgs...)
 }
 
-func unwrapAll(err error) (errs []error) {
+func unwrapAll(err error) []error {
+	return appendUnwrapped(nil, err, make(map[error]struct{}))
+}
+
+// appendUnwrapped flattens an error chain, guarding against cyclic chains that
+// would otherwise recurse until the goroutine stack overflows.
+//
+// Only comparable errors are tracked: using an incomparable error as a map key
+// would panic, so those simply skip cycle detection (mirroring how the standard
+// library's errors.Is guards its own comparisons).
+func appendUnwrapped(errs []error, err error, visited map[error]struct{}) []error {
+	if err != nil && reflect.TypeOf(err).Comparable() {
+		if _, ok := visited[err]; ok {
+			return errs // cyclic error chain: stop here
+		}
+		visited[err] = struct{}{}
+		defer delete(visited, err)
+	}
+
 	errs = append(errs, err)
 	switch x := err.(type) { //nolint:errorlint // false positive: this type switch is checking for interfaces
 	case interface{ Unwrap() error }:
-		err = x.Unwrap()
-		if err == nil {
-			return
+		next := x.Unwrap()
+		if next == nil {
+			return errs
 		}
-		errs = append(errs, unwrapAll(err)...)
+		errs = appendUnwrapped(errs, next, visited)
 	case interface{ Unwrap() []error }:
-		for _, err := range x.Unwrap() {
-			errs = append(errs, unwrapAll(err)...)
+		for _, next := range x.Unwrap() {
+			errs = appendUnwrapped(errs, next, visited)
 		}
 	}
-	return
+	return errs
 }
 
 func buildErrorChainString(err error, withType bool) string {
diff --git a/internal/assertions/recursion_cycles_test.go b/internal/assertions/recursion_cycles_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f01bdca68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/assertions/recursion_cycles_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright 2025 go-swagger maintainers
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package assertions
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// These tests guard the reflection-based assertion helpers against cyclic
+// inputs. Such inputs are legal Go values but would, without an explicit guard,
+// drive the helpers into unbounded recursion and overflow the goroutine stack.
+//
+// A goroutine stack overflow is a fatal runtime error that cannot be recovered,
+// so the regression signal is simply that these tests run to completion: before
+// the fix, each case crashes the test binary.
+
+type cyclicNode struct {
+	Name string
+	Next *cyclicNode
+}
+
+// TestCopyExportedFieldsCycle covers copyExportedFields (reached via
+// EqualExportedValues) with self-referential and mutually-referential pointers.
+func TestCopyExportedFieldsCycle(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	t.Run("self-referential struct does not overflow the stack", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		a := &cyclicNode{Name: "node"}
+		a.Next = a
+		b := &cyclicNode{Name: "node"}
+		b.Next = b
+
+		mock := new(mockT)
+		// Two structurally identical self-cycles compare as equal.
+		if !EqualExportedValues(mock, a, b) {
+			t.Errorf("expected structurally identical self-cycles to be equal")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("mutually-referential structs do not overflow the stack", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		a1 := &cyclicNode{Name: "a"}
+		a2 := &cyclicNode{Name: "b"}
+		a1.Next = a2
+		a2.Next = a1
+
+		b1 := &cyclicNode{Name: "a"}
+		b2 := &cyclicNode{Name: "b"}
+		b1.Next = b2
+		b2.Next = b1
+
+		mock := new(mockT)
+		if !EqualExportedValues(mock, a1, b1) {
+			t.Errorf("expected structurally identical mutual cycles to be equal")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("copyExportedFields returns on a direct cycle", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		a := &cyclicNode{Name: "node"}
+		a.Next = a
+
+		// Direct call: the only property under test is that it returns.
+		_ = copyExportedFields(a)
+	})
+}
+
+// selfPtr is a pointer type that can point to a value of its own type, allowing
+// the construction of a pointer chain that cycles back on itself.
+type selfPtr *selfPtr
+
+// TestIsEmptyValueCycle covers isEmptyValue (reached via Empty/NotEmpty/Zero)
+// with a cyclic pointer chain.
+func TestIsEmptyValueCycle(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	var p selfPtr
+	p = &p // p points to itself
+
+	mock := new(mockT)
+
+	// A non-nil, cyclic pointer chain is not empty; the assertions must agree
+	// and, above all, must not recurse forever.
+	empty := Empty(mock, p)
+	notEmpty := NotEmpty(new(mockT), p)
+
+	if empty {
+		t.Errorf("expected a non-nil cyclic pointer to be reported as not empty")
+	}
+	if empty == notEmpty {
+		t.Errorf("Empty and NotEmpty must be complementary, got Empty=%t NotEmpty=%t", empty, notEmpty)
+	}
+}
+
+// cyclicError is an error whose Unwrap chain can be made to cycle.
+type cyclicError struct {
+	msg  string
+	next error
+}
+
+func (e *cyclicError) Error() string { return e.msg }
+func (e *cyclicError) Unwrap() error { return e.next }
+
+// multiCyclicError exercises the Unwrap() []error branch of the chain walker.
+type multiCyclicError struct {
+	msg  string
+	errs []error
+}
+
+func (e *multiCyclicError) Error() string   { return e.msg }
+func (e *multiCyclicError) Unwrap() []error { return e.errs }
+
+// TestUnwrapAllCycle covers unwrapAll (reached when formatting error chains in
+// ErrorIs/NotErrorIs failure messages) with cyclic Unwrap chains.
+//
+// Note: we deliberately test unwrapAll directly rather than through the public
+// ErrorIs/NotErrorIs assertions. Those call the standard library's errors.Is
+// first, which itself walks the Unwrap chain without cycle detection and so
+// hangs on a cyclic chain before our formatter is ever reached. Guarding that
+// would mean reimplementing errors.Is and diverging from standard-library
+// semantics, which is out of scope here. unwrapAll is hardened on its own so
+// that our code never contributes an unbounded recursion of its own.
+func TestUnwrapAllCycle(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	t.Run("single Unwrap cycle does not overflow the stack", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		e := &cyclicError{msg: "boom"}
+		e.next = e // self-cycle
+
+		errs := unwrapAll(e)
+		if len(errs) == 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected at least the head error")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("multi Unwrap cycle does not overflow the stack", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		leaf := &cyclicError{msg: "leaf"}
+		root := &multiCyclicError{msg: "root"}
+		root.errs = []error{leaf, root} // root references itself
+
+		errs := unwrapAll(root)
+		if len(errs) == 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected at least the head error")
+		}
+	})
+}