diff --git a/docs/reports/code_path_audit/.latest b/docs/reports/code_path_audit/.latest
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f8b8276
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reports/code_path_audit/.latest
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2026-06-24
diff --git a/scripts/audit_code_path_audit_coverage.py b/scripts/audit_code_path_audit_coverage.py
index 8df9f8b5..0ac32cf0 100644
--- a/scripts/audit_code_path_audit_coverage.py
+++ b/scripts/audit_code_path_audit_coverage.py
@@ -37,6 +37,20 @@ def main() -> int:
  parser.add_argument("--strict", action="store_true", help="Exit 1 on any violation")
  args = parser.parse_args()
  input_dir = Path(args.input_dir)
+ # Tier 2 mitigation (post_module_taxonomy_de_cruft_20260627 Phase 0b):
+ # On Windows, symlinks to the audit output directory fail with
+ # PermissionError when Python's pathlib.exists() follows the symlink.
+ # The .latest marker file pattern is the Windows-compatible alternative:
+ # a sibling file .latest contains the name of the latest audit
+ # directory (e.g., '2026-06-24'). The audit reads the marker and uses
+ # that directory as the input. If the marker doesn't exist, the input
+ # is used as-is (preserving Linux/macOS symlink behavior).
+ if input_dir.name == "latest":
+  marker = input_dir.parent / ".latest"
+  if marker.exists():
+   resolved_name = marker.read_text(encoding="utf-8").strip()
+   if resolved_name:
+    input_dir = input_dir.parent / resolved_name
  if not input_dir.exists():
   print(f"ERROR: input dir does not exist: {input_dir}")
   return 1