diff --git a/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/__init__.py b/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/__init__.py
index 10a9fcec931..285dae80421 100644
--- a/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/__init__.py
+++ b/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/__init__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from .batch import batch
 from .compare_dicts import compare_dicts
 from .default import default
+from .format_string import AvdStringFormatter
 from .get import get, get_v2
 from .get_all import get_all, get_all_with_path
 from .get_indices_of_duplicate_items import get_indices_of_duplicate_items
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@
 from .unique import unique
 
 __all__ = [
+    "AvdStringFormatter",
     "append_if_not_duplicate",
     "batch",
     "compare_dicts",
diff --git a/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/format_string.py b/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/format_string.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0a68cb79a14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-avd/pyavd/_utils/format_string.py
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2024 Arista Networks, Inc.
+# Use of this source code is governed by the Apache License 2.0
+# that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+from collections.abc import Iterable
+from string import Formatter
+
+
+class AvdStringFormatter(Formatter):
+    """
+    Custom string formatter class to provide extra protection from malicious format strings and support for prefixes and suffixes per field.
+
+    The regular Python syntax is "{" [field_name] ["!" conversion] [":" format_spec] "}"
+    This class supports "{" [field_name] ["?"] ["<" prefix] [">" suffix] ["!" conversion] [":" format_spec] "}"
+
+    where
+        ? ::= The literal ? signals that the field is optional and will not be printed if the value is missing or None.
+        prefix ::= string including spaces which will be inserted before the field value.
+                   Most useful in combination with ?. Prefix should not contain "<", ">", "!" or ":".
+        suffix ::= string including spaces which will be inserted after the field value.
+                   Most useful in combination with ?. Suffix should not contain "<", ">", "!" or ":".
+        conversion ::= "!u" for "upper()" (The regular Python conversions "!r", "!s", "!a" have been removed).
+
+    Note the order of syntax field matters!
+    """
+
+    def _vformat(self, format_string: str, args: list, kwargs: dict, used_args: set, recursion_depth: int, auto_arg_index: int = 0) -> tuple[str, int]:
+        """
+        Perform the actual formatting.
+
+        Mostly a copy from the base class, but adding support for using "optional", "prefix" and "suffix" from the .parse() method.
+
+        This should not be called directly. Instead call AvdStringFormatter().format(format_string, /, *args, **kwargs)
+        """
+        if recursion_depth < 0:
+            msg = "Max string recursion exceeded"
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+        result = []
+        for literal_text, org_field_name, org_format_spec, conversion, optional, prefix, suffix in self.parse(format_string):
+            # Make ruff happy.
+            field_name = org_field_name
+            format_spec = org_format_spec
+
+            # output the literal text
+            if literal_text:
+                result.append(literal_text)
+
+            # if there's a field, output it
+            if field_name is not None:
+                # this is some markup, find the object and do the formatting
+
+                # handle arg indexing when empty field_names are given.
+                if field_name == "":
+                    if auto_arg_index is False:
+                        msg = "cannot switch from manual field specification to automatic field numbering"
+                        raise ValueError(msg)
+                    field_name = str(auto_arg_index)
+                    auto_arg_index += 1
+                elif field_name.isdigit():
+                    if auto_arg_index:
+                        msg = "cannot switch from manual field specification to automatic field numbering"
+                        raise ValueError(msg)
+                    # disable auto arg incrementing, if it gets
+                    # used later on, then an exception will be raised
+                    auto_arg_index = False
+
+                # given the field_name, find the object it references
+                #  and the argument it came from
+                if optional:
+                    try:
+                        obj, arg_used = self.get_field(field_name, args, kwargs)
+                    except (IndexError, KeyError):
+                        # Skip this field if it is optional and not existing.
+                        continue
+                    if obj is None:
+                        # Skip this field if it is optional and None.
+                        continue
+                else:
+                    obj, arg_used = self.get_field(field_name, args, kwargs)
+
+                used_args.add(arg_used)
+
+                # do any conversion on the resulting object
+                obj = self.convert_field(obj, conversion)
+
+                # expand the format spec, if needed
+                format_spec, auto_arg_index = self._vformat(format_spec, args, kwargs, used_args, recursion_depth - 1, auto_arg_index=auto_arg_index)
+
+                # Append prefix if set
+                if prefix:
+                    result.append(prefix)
+
+                # format the object and append to the result
+                result.append(self.format_field(obj, format_spec))
+
+                # Append suffix if set
+                if suffix:
+                    result.append(suffix)
+
+        return "".join(result), auto_arg_index
+
+    def parse(self, format_string: str) -> Iterable[tuple[str, str | None, str | None, str | None, bool | None, str | None, str | None]]:
+        """
+        Parse the format_string and yield elements back.
+
+        Mostly a copy from the base class, but also returning "optional", "prefix" and "suffix" for every field.
+        """
+        for literal_text, field_name, format_spec, conversion in super().parse(format_string):
+            if not field_name or not ("?" in field_name or ">" in field_name or "<" in field_name):
+                yield (literal_text, field_name, format_spec, conversion, None, None, None)
+                continue
+
+            tmp_field_name = field_name
+            # Doing suffix first so the split will keep a potential prefix in the tmp_field_name
+            if ">" in tmp_field_name:
+                tmp_field_name, suffix = tmp_field_name.split(">", maxsplit=1)
+            else:
+                suffix = None
+
+            if "<" in tmp_field_name:
+                tmp_field_name, prefix = tmp_field_name.split("<", maxsplit=1)
+            else:
+                prefix = None
+
+            optional = tmp_field_name.endswith("?")
+            tmp_field_name = tmp_field_name.removesuffix("?")
+
+            yield (literal_text, tmp_field_name, format_spec, conversion, optional, prefix, suffix)
+
+    def convert_field(self, value: object, conversion: str | None) -> object:
+        """
+        Convert the value according to the given conversion instruction.
+
+        Mostly a copy from the base class, but only supporting !u for upper().
+        """
+        # do any conversion on the resulting object
+        if conversion is None:
+            return value
+        if conversion == "u":
+            return str(value).upper()
+        msg = f"Unknown conversion specifier {conversion!s}"
+        raise ValueError(msg)
+
+    def get_field(self, field_name: str, args: list, kwargs: dict) -> tuple[object, str]:
+        """
+        Get field value including parsing attributes/keys.
+
+        Reusing base class after guarding against accessing attributes leading with underscore.
+        This protects against access to dunders etc.
+        """
+        if not field_name or "_" not in field_name:
+            return super().get_field(field_name, args, kwargs)
+
+        if any(attr.startswith("_") for attr in field_name.split(".")):
+            msg = f"Unsupported field name '{field_name}'. Avoid attributes starting with underscore."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+        if any(key_and_more.startswith("_") for key_and_more in field_name.split("[")):
+            msg = f"Unsupported field name '{field_name}'. Avoid keys starting with underscore."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+
+        return super().get_field(field_name, args, kwargs)
diff --git a/python-avd/tests/pyavd/utils/test_format_string.py b/python-avd/tests/pyavd/utils/test_format_string.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4cd2cf52678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-avd/tests/pyavd/utils/test_format_string.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023-2024 Arista Networks, Inc.
+# Use of this source code is governed by the Apache License 2.0
+# that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from pyavd._utils import AvdStringFormatter
+
+
+class DummyClass:
+    _private = "private"
+    public = "public"
+
+
+FORMAT_STRING_TESTS = [
+    # (<format_string>, <args ()>, <kwargs {}>, <expected_output>)
+    # no fields
+    pytest.param("Ethernet1", (), {}, "Ethernet1", id="no_fields"),
+    pytest.param("Ethernet1", (), {"foo": "bar"}, "Ethernet1", id="no_fields_with_args"),
+    pytest.param("{{Ethernet1}}", (), {}, "{Ethernet1}", id="escaped_curly_brace"),
+    # named fields with upper
+    pytest.param("{interface!u}", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "ETHERNET1", id="field_with_existing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?!u}", (), {}, "", id="optional_field_with_missing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?!u}", (), {"interface": None}, "", id="optional_field_with_none_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?!u}", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "ETHERNET1", id="optional_field_with_existing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{interface.public?!u}", (), {"interface": DummyClass()}, "PUBLIC", id="optional_field_with_attribute_and_upper"),
+    # positional fields with upper
+    pytest.param("{!u}", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "ETHERNET1", id="positional_field_with_existing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{?!u}", (), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_missing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{?!u}", (None,), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_none_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{?!u}", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "ETHERNET1", id="positional_optional_field_with_existing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{0?!u}{1?!u}{0?!u}", ("foo", "bar"), {}, "FOOBARFOO", id="positional_optional_repeated_fields_with_existing_args_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{0.public?!u}", (DummyClass(),), {}, "PUBLIC", id="positional_optional_field_with_attribute_and_upper"),
+    # named fields with prefix
+    pytest.param("{interface<foo  }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "foo  Ethernet1", id="field_with_prefix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?<foo}", (), {}, "", id="optional_field_with_prefix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?< f o o }", (), {"interface": None}, "", id="optional_field_with_prefix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?< f o o }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, " f o o Ethernet1", id="optional_field_with_prefix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface.public?<foo}", (), {"interface": DummyClass()}, "foopublic", id="optional_field_with_prefix_attribute"),
+    # positional fields with prefix
+    pytest.param("{<foo  }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "foo  Ethernet1", id="positional_field_with_prefix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?<foo}", (), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?< f o o }", (None,), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?< f o o }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, " f o o Ethernet1", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{0<one}{1<two}{0<three}", ("foo", "bar"), {}, "onefootwobarthreefoo", id="positional_repeated_fields_with_prefix_existing_args"),
+    # named fields with suffix
+    pytest.param("{interface>foo  }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "Ethernet1foo  ", id="field_with_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?>foo}", (), {}, "", id="optional_field_with_suffix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?> f o o }", (), {"interface": None}, "", id="optional_field_with_suffix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?> f o o }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "Ethernet1 f o o ", id="optional_field_with_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface.public?>foo}", (), {"interface": DummyClass()}, "publicfoo", id="optional_field_with_prefix_attribute"),
+    # positional fields with suffix
+    pytest.param("{>foo  }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "Ethernet1foo  ", id="positional_field_with_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?>foo}", (), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_suffix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?> f o o }", (None,), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_suffix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?> f o o }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "Ethernet1 f o o ", id="positional_optional_field_with_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{0>one}{1>two}{0>three}", ("foo", "bar"), {}, "fooonebartwofoothree", id="positional_repeated_fields_with_suffix_existing_args"),
+    # named fields with prefix and suffix
+    pytest.param("{interface<foo  >bar  }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, "foo  Ethernet1bar  ", id="field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?<foo>bar}", (), {}, "", id="optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{interface?< f o o > b a r }", (), {"interface": None}, "", id="optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param(
+        "{interface?< f o o > b a r }", (), {"interface": "Ethernet1"}, " f o o Ethernet1 b a r ", id="optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg"
+    ),
+    pytest.param("{interface.public<foo>bar}", (), {"interface": DummyClass()}, "foopublicbar", id="field_with_prefix_attribute"),
+    # positional fields with prefix and suffix
+    pytest.param("{<foo  >bar  }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "foo  Ethernet1bar  ", id="positional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?<foo>bar}", (), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_missing_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?< f o o > b a r }", (None,), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_none_arg"),
+    pytest.param("{?< f o o > b a r }", ("Ethernet1",), {}, " f o o Ethernet1 b a r ", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg"),
+    pytest.param(
+        "{0<aaa>one}_{1<bbb>two}_{0<ccc>three}",
+        ("foo", "bar"),
+        {},
+        "aaafooone_bbbbartwo_cccfoothree",
+        id="positional_repeated_fields_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_args",
+    ),
+    # positional fields with prefix and suffix and upper
+    pytest.param("{<foo  >bar  !u}", ("Ethernet1",), {}, "foo  ETHERNET1bar  ", id="positional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{?<foo>bar!u}", (), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_missing_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param("{?< f o o > b a r !u}", (None,), {}, "", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_none_arg_and_upper"),
+    pytest.param(
+        "{?< f o o > b a r !u}", ("Ethernet1",), {}, " f o o ETHERNET1 b a r ", id="positional_optional_field_with_prefix_and_suffix_existing_arg_and_upper"
+    ),
+]
+
+
+SAFETY_TESTS = [
+    # (<format_string>, <args ()>, <kwargs {}>)
+    pytest.param("{foo.__class__.__name__}", (), {"foo": "bar"}, id="kwarg_dunder"),
+    pytest.param("{_foo}", (), {"_foo": "bar"}, id="kwarg_private"),
+    pytest.param("{foo._private}", (), {"foo": DummyClass()}, id="kwarg_private_attribute"),
+    pytest.param("{0.__class__.__name__}", ("foo",), {}, id="arg_dunder"),
+    pytest.param("{0._private}", (DummyClass(),), {}, id="arg_private_attribute"),
+]
+
+
+class TestAvdStringFormatter:
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(("format_string", "args", "kwargs", "expected_output"), FORMAT_STRING_TESTS)
+    def test_avd_formatter(self, format_string: str, args: tuple, kwargs: dict, expected_output: list) -> None:
+        resp = AvdStringFormatter().format(format_string, *args, **kwargs)
+        assert resp == expected_output
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(("format_string", "args", "kwargs"), SAFETY_TESTS)
+    def test_avd_formatter_safety(self, format_string: str, args: tuple, kwargs: dict) -> None:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Unsupported field name '.+'. Avoid (attributes|keys) starting with underscore."):
+            AvdStringFormatter().format(format_string, *args, **kwargs)