diff --git a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
index a6ba37fc2..5aec02bd0 100644
--- a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
+++ b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md
@@ -2191,7 +2191,9 @@ artifact-selection behaviour.
    dependency audits may retry only explicit registry transport or endpoint
    failures, with a bounded request timeout and attempt count; an advisory
    finding must fail immediately, and exhausted service failures must remain a
-   failed check. In `.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml`, the aggregate audit
+   failed check. If npm emits an advisory report together with a transport
+   marker, the advisory result takes precedence and must not be retried. In
+   `.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml`, the aggregate audit
    verdict must run after formatting, lint, tests, type-checking, the production
    build, and the bundle-size check so an unavailable advisory service cannot
    suppress those results. The preceding `npm ci` must disable its duplicate
diff --git a/scripts/installtests/build_release_assets_test.go b/scripts/installtests/build_release_assets_test.go
index 323adcf3c..5ff1be820 100644
--- a/scripts/installtests/build_release_assets_test.go
+++ b/scripts/installtests/build_release_assets_test.go
@@ -3680,6 +3680,7 @@ func TestFrontendDependencySecurityAuditsAreRequired(t *testing.T) {
 		`readonly max_attempts=3`,
 		`readonly fetch_timeout_ms=60000`,
 		`npm audit --fetch-timeout="${fetch_timeout_ms}" "$@"`,
+		`grep -Fq '# npm audit report'`,
 		`if ! grep -Eiq`,
 		`if (( attempt == max_attempts )); then`,
 	)
diff --git a/scripts/npm-audit-retry.sh b/scripts/npm-audit-retry.sh
index 94c348768..343848735 100755
--- a/scripts/npm-audit-retry.sh
+++ b/scripts/npm-audit-retry.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ while (( attempt <= max_attempts )); do
     exit 0
   fi
 
+  # An advisory result takes precedence if npm also emits a transport warning.
+  # Never turn a real vulnerability finding into a retryable service failure.
+  if grep -Fq '# npm audit report' "${output}"; then
+    exit "${status}"
+  fi
+
   # npm audit uses a registry POST. npm's fetch retries cover idempotent reads,
   # so a transient timeout or audit endpoint error otherwise consumes the full
   # default five-minute timeout and fails the check without another attempt.
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_npm_audit_retry.py b/scripts/tests/test_npm_audit_retry.py
index 3b5a96569..c1e45c930 100755
--- a/scripts/tests/test_npm_audit_retry.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_npm_audit_retry.py
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ class NpmAuditRetryTest(unittest.TestCase):
                         echo '1 high severity vulnerability'
                         exit 1
                         ;;
+                      vulnerability-and-transient)
+                        echo '# npm audit report'
+                        echo 'example  <2.0.0'
+                        echo '1 high severity vulnerability'
+                        echo 'npm error code ETIMEDOUT'
+                        exit 1
+                        ;;
                     esac
                     exit 64
                     """
@@ -130,6 +137,16 @@ class NpmAuditRetryTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn("1 high severity vulnerability", result.stdout)
         self.assertNotIn("retrying", result.stderr)
 
+    def test_vulnerability_report_takes_precedence_over_transport_marker(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        result, calls, sleeps = self.run_check("vulnerability-and-transient")
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 1)
+        self.assertEqual(calls, ["audit --fetch-timeout=60000"])
+        self.assertEqual(sleeps, [])
+        self.assertIn("1 high severity vulnerability", result.stdout)
+        self.assertNotIn("retrying", result.stderr)
+
     def test_persistent_registry_failure_remains_fatal(self) -> None:
         result, calls, sleeps = self.run_check("transient-failure")
         self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 42)