diff --git a/src/main/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtils.java b/src/main/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtils.java
index 4ebae9bb00..a1ef45f6ef 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtils.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public static GoogleCredentials loadServiceAccountCredentials(String serviceAcco
                                                                 boolean isServiceAccountFilePath)
     throws IOException {
     try (InputStream inputStream = openServiceAccount(serviceAccount, isServiceAccountFilePath)) {
-      return GoogleCredentials.fromStream(inputStream);
+      return ServiceAccountCredentials.fromStream(inputStream);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtilsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a0a35062fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/cdap/plugin/gcp/common/GCPUtilsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2026 Cask Data, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
+ * use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
+ * the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+ * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+
+package io.cdap.plugin.gcp.common;
+
+import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class GCPUtilsTest {
+
+  @Test
+  public void testLoadServiceAccountCredentialsNegative() {
+    // Negative Scenario: type is set to "external_account" (simulating the external
+    // payload attack)
+    String externalAccountJson = "{\n" +
+        "  \"type\": \"external_account\"\n" +
+        "}";
+
+    try {
+      GCPUtils.loadServiceAccountCredentials(externalAccountJson, false);
+      Assert.fail("Expected IOException when loading non-service-account credentials");
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      // Expected exception because the JSON does not represent a valid service
+      // account.
+      // ServiceAccountCredentials.fromStream throws a specific exception indicating
+      // the type mismatch.
+      Assert.assertNotNull("Exception message should indicate valid parse failure", e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testLoadServiceAccountCredentialsPositive() throws Exception {
+    java.security.KeyPairGenerator kpg = java.security.KeyPairGenerator.getInstance("RSA");
+    kpg.initialize(1024);
+    java.security.KeyPair kp = kpg.generateKeyPair();
+    String encodedKey = java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(kp.getPrivate().getEncoded());
+    String pemKey = "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\\n" + encodedKey + "\\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\\n";
+    String validServiceAccountJson = "{\n" +
+        "  \"type\": \"service_account\",\n" +
+        "  \"project_id\": \"test-project\",\n" +
+        "  \"private_key_id\": \"dummy-id\",\n" +
+        "  \"private_key\": \"" + pemKey + "\",\n" +
+        "  \"client_email\": \"test@test-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com\",\n" +
+        "  \"client_id\": \"12345\"\n" +
+        "}";
+
+    GoogleCredentials creds = GCPUtils.loadServiceAccountCredentials(validServiceAccountJson, false);
+    Assert.assertNotNull(creds);
+    Assert.assertTrue("Credentials should be an instance of ServiceAccountCredentials", 
+                      creds instanceof com.google.auth.oauth2.ServiceAccountCredentials);
+  }
+}