diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c442b3b1..e7a0b5f6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,12 +19,18 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented in this file.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Fail closed for a directory when an admitted `.html4ignore` cannot be read,
+  instead of publishing entries with an empty custom-ignore policy after a
+  read-time filesystem race.
 - Generate the inline-style Content Security Policy SHA-256 source expression
   from the exact normalized UTF-8 stylesheet bytes emitted into each generated
   `index.html` file, preventing template whitespace from invalidating the policy.
 
 ### Tests
 
+- Replace the scheduler- and permission-dependent `.html4ignore` race test with
+  deterministic injected-I/O regressions for typed failure propagation,
+  directory-publication suppression, and the normal readable glob path.
 - Add a real generated-file regression test that independently recomputes the
   declared style hash from the emitted `<style>` text.
 - Add generated-page regressions for row ordering, empty-state semantics, CSS
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
index 0972fa2c..6b4c513f 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import java.security.MessageDigest
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.LinkOption
 import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption
+import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption
 import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes
 import java.util.Base64
 import com.github.ajalt.clikt.core.CliktCommand
@@ -124,6 +125,9 @@ fun main(args: Array<String>)  = Html4tree().main(args)
 
 internal data class FileIdentity(val key: Any?, val readable: Boolean)
 
+internal class IgnoreFileReadException(cause: java.io.IOException) :
+    RuntimeException("Unable to read an admitted .html4ignore file", cause)
+
 
 internal fun read_file_identity(file: File): FileIdentity {
     return try {
@@ -200,7 +204,14 @@ internal fun crawl_directories(
         val dirFilesNames = dirFiles?.let { files ->
             Array(files.size) { index -> files[index].name }
         }
-        val exclude = processIgnoreFile(lle.file, dirFilesNames)
+        val exclude = try {
+            processIgnoreFile(lle.file, dirFilesNames)
+        } catch (_: IgnoreFileReadException) {
+            // An admitted ignore policy that cannot be read is not equivalent to no policy.
+            // Skip publication and traversal for this directory rather than exposing names.
+            lle = ll.pull()
+            continue
+        }
 
         if(maxLevel == -1 || currentLevel <= maxLevel)
            processDirectory(lle.file, exclude, dirFiles)
@@ -293,7 +304,25 @@ fun String.urlEncodePath(): String {
     return encoded?.toString() ?: this
 }
 
-fun process_ignore_file(curr_dir: File, dirFilesNames: Array<String>? = null): Set<String> {
+internal fun read_ignore_lines_no_follow(
+    file: File,
+    consume: (Sequence<String>) -> Unit
+) {
+    val inputStream = Files.newInputStream(file.toPath(), StandardOpenOption.READ, LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)
+    try {
+        val reader = java.io.InputStreamReader(inputStream, Charsets.UTF_8)
+        val bufferedReader = java.io.BufferedReader(reader)
+        bufferedReader.useLines { consume(it) }
+    } finally {
+        inputStream.close()
+    }
+}
+
+fun process_ignore_file(
+    curr_dir: File,
+    dirFilesNames: Array<String>? = null,
+    readIgnoreLines: (File, (Sequence<String>) -> Unit) -> Unit = ::read_ignore_lines_no_follow
+): Set<String> {
 
     val ignore_filename = ".html4ignore"
  
@@ -302,29 +331,45 @@ fun process_ignore_file(curr_dir: File, dirFilesNames: Array<String>? = null): S
     val ignore_file = File(ignore_file_path)
 
     val files_to_exclude = mutableSetOf<String>()
+    val list = dirFilesNames ?: curr_dir.list()
+    val policyDeclared = list?.contains(ignore_filename) == true
+    val policyReadableRegularFile =
+        ignore_file.isFile &&
+        !Files.isSymbolicLink(ignore_file.toPath()) &&
+        ignore_file.canRead() &&
+        ignore_file.length() <= 1048576
+
+    if (policyDeclared && !policyReadableRegularFile) {
+        throw IgnoreFileReadException(
+            java.io.IOException(".html4ignore was declared by the directory snapshot but is not a readable bounded regular file")
+        )
+    }
 
-    // 보안 향상: .html4ignore 파일이 일반 파일인지 확인하고, 심볼릭 링크인 경우 무시하여 DoS 및 경로 조작을 방지합니다.
-    // 보안 향상: 파일 크기(1MB 제한) 및 줄 수(1000줄), 정규식 길이(100자)를 제한하여 ReDoS 및 메모리 고갈(OOM) 방지
-    // 보안 향상: 권한이 없는 파일 접근 시 발생하는 예외(DoS)를 방지하기 위해 canRead() 추가 확인
-    if(ignore_file.isFile && !Files.isSymbolicLink(ignore_file.toPath()) && ignore_file.canRead() && ignore_file.length() <= 1048576){
+    // The pre-open checks bound size and reject a policy that is already a symlink.
+    // The actual open below also uses NOFOLLOW_LINKS so a final-component replacement
+    // cannot silently switch policy evaluation to a symlink target.
+    if(policyReadableRegularFile){
        val ignored_matchers = mutableListOf<java.nio.file.PathMatcher>()
 
-       ignore_file.useLines { lines ->
-           for ((lineIndex, it) in lines.withIndex()) {
-               // 줄 수 제한이 패턴 수도 함께 상한(줄당 최대 1개 패턴)하므로 별도 패턴 카운터는 불필요
-               if (lineIndex >= 1000) break
-               val pattern = it.trim()
-               if (pattern.isNotEmpty() && pattern.length <= 100) {
-                   try {
-                       ignored_matchers.add(java.nio.file.FileSystems.getDefault().getPathMatcher("glob:$pattern"))
-                   } catch (_: IllegalArgumentException) {
+       try {
+           readIgnoreLines(ignore_file) { lines ->
+               for ((lineIndex, it) in lines.withIndex()) {
+                   // 줄 수 제한이 패턴 수도 함께 상한(줄당 최대 1개 패턴)하므로 별도 패턴 카운터는 불필요
+                   if (lineIndex >= 1000) break
+                   val pattern = it.trim()
+                   if (pattern.isNotEmpty() && pattern.length <= 100) {
+                       try {
+                           ignored_matchers.add(java.nio.file.FileSystems.getDefault().getPathMatcher("glob:$pattern"))
+                       } catch (_: IllegalArgumentException) {
+                       }
                    }
                }
            }
+       } catch (error: java.io.IOException) {
+           throw IgnoreFileReadException(error)
        }
 
        // ⚡ Bolt Performance Optimization: 디렉토리 목록을 Set에 추가하기 위해 필터링만 할 때는 정렬이 불필요하므로 .sorted()를 제거하여 O(N log N) 오버헤드를 방지합니다.
-       val list = dirFilesNames ?: curr_dir.list()
        list?.forEach {
            val current = it
            val pathCurrent = try {
@@ -350,7 +395,7 @@ fun process_ignore_file(curr_dir: File, dirFilesNames: Array<String>? = null): S
     files_to_exclude.addAll(Constants.defaultSensitiveFiles)
 
     // 보안 향상: dot-like prefixes and case variants of known sensitive names are excluded.
-    (dirFilesNames ?: curr_dir.list())?.forEach {
+    list?.forEach {
         val normalizedName = it.toLowerCase(java.util.Locale.ROOT)
         if (
             it.isHiddenFile() ||
@@ -526,4 +571,4 @@ private object Constants {
         ".swo",
         ".swpx"
     )
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/IgnoreFileReadFailureTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/IgnoreFileReadFailureTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e5f4bb32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/IgnoreFileReadFailureTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+package html4tree
+
+import org.junit.After
+import org.junit.Before
+import org.junit.Test
+import java.io.File
+import java.io.IOException
+import java.nio.file.Files
+import kotlin.test.assertFailsWith
+import kotlin.test.assertFalse
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+
+class IgnoreFileReadFailureTest {
+    private lateinit var tempDir: File
+
+    @Before
+    fun setup() {
+        tempDir = Files.createTempDirectory("html4tree-ignore-read-").toFile()
+    }
+
+    @After
+    fun teardown() {
+        tempDir.deleteRecursively()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun processIgnoreFileWrapsInjectedReadFailure() {
+        File(tempDir, ".html4ignore").writeText("private-*\n")
+
+        val error = assertFailsWith<IgnoreFileReadException> {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir, arrayOf("private-report.txt")) { _, _ ->
+                throw IOException("injected read failure")
+            }
+        }
+
+        assertTrue(error.cause is IOException)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun processIgnoreFileFailsClosedWhenPolicyBecomesSymlinkAtOpenTime() {
+        val ignoreFile = File(tempDir, ".html4ignore")
+        val replacementTarget = File(tempDir, "replacement-policy")
+        ignoreFile.writeText("private-*\n")
+        replacementTarget.writeText("public-*\n")
+
+        val error = assertFailsWith<IgnoreFileReadException> {
+            process_ignore_file(
+                tempDir,
+                arrayOf(".html4ignore", "private-report.txt", "public-report.txt")
+            ) { file, consume ->
+                Files.delete(file.toPath())
+                Files.createSymbolicLink(file.toPath(), replacementTarget.toPath())
+                read_ignore_lines_no_follow(file, consume)
+            }
+        }
+
+        assertTrue(error.cause is IOException)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun processIgnoreFileFailsClosedForDeclaredSymlinkWithoutInjectedSnapshot() {
+        val replacementTarget = File(tempDir, "replacement-policy")
+        replacementTarget.writeText("public-*\n")
+        Files.createSymbolicLink(File(tempDir, ".html4ignore").toPath(), replacementTarget.toPath())
+
+        val error = assertFailsWith<IgnoreFileReadException> {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir)
+        }
+
+        assertTrue(error.cause is IOException)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun processIgnoreFileFailsClosedForDeclaredDirectoryWithoutInjectedSnapshot() {
+        File(tempDir, ".html4ignore").mkdir()
+
+        val error = assertFailsWith<IgnoreFileReadException> {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir)
+        }
+
+        assertTrue(error.cause is IOException)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun crawlDoesNotPublishDirectoryWhenAdmittedIgnoreFileReadFails() {
+        File(tempDir, "public.txt").writeText("visible only when policy evaluation succeeds")
+        val queue = LinkedList()
+        queue.push(LinkedListEntry(tempDir, 0, read_file_identity(tempDir).key))
+        var published = false
+
+        crawl_directories(
+            queue,
+            -1,
+            processDirectory = { _, _, _ -> published = true },
+            processIgnoreFile = { _, _ ->
+                throw IgnoreFileReadException(IOException("injected read failure"))
+            }
+        )
+
+        assertFalse(published)
+        assertFalse(File(tempDir, "index.html").exists())
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun crawlDoesNotPublishWhenListedIgnoreFileDisappearsBeforePolicyRead() {
+        File(tempDir, ".html4ignore").writeText("private-*\n")
+        File(tempDir, "private-report.txt").writeText("must remain hidden")
+        val queue = LinkedList()
+        queue.push(LinkedListEntry(tempDir, 0, read_file_identity(tempDir).key))
+        var published = false
+        var listedIgnorePolicy = false
+
+        crawl_directories(
+            queue,
+            -1,
+            processDirectory = { _, _, _ -> published = true },
+            listFiles = { directory ->
+                val snapshot = directory.listFiles()
+                listedIgnorePolicy = snapshot?.any { it.name == ".html4ignore" } == true
+                File(directory, ".html4ignore").delete()
+                snapshot
+            }
+        )
+
+        assertTrue(listedIgnorePolicy)
+        assertFalse(
+            published,
+            "a policy present in the admitted directory snapshot must not become an empty policy when it disappears before read"
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun readableIgnoreFileStillAppliesConfiguredGlob() {
+        File(tempDir, ".html4ignore").writeText("private-*\n")
+
+        val excluded = process_ignore_file(
+            tempDir,
+            arrayOf("private-report.txt", "public.txt")
+        )
+
+        assertTrue("private-report.txt" in excluded)
+        assertFalse("public.txt" in excluded)
+}
+    @Test
+    fun readIgnoreLinesNoFollowConsumesLinesCorrectly() {
+        val file = File(tempDir, ".html4ignore")
+        file.writeText("line1\nline2")
+        var lineCount = 0
+        read_ignore_lines_no_follow(file) { lines -> lineCount = lines.count() }
+        kotlin.test.assertEquals(2, lineCount)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun readIgnoreLinesNoFollowConsumesLinesCorrectlyAndCloses() {
+        val file = File(tempDir, ".html4ignore2")
+        file.writeText("line1\nline2\nline3")
+        var lineCount = 0
+        // Using let/toList to consume the sequence inside the lambda
+        read_ignore_lines_no_follow(file) { lines -> lineCount = lines.toList().count() }
+        kotlin.test.assertEquals(3, lineCount)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun readIgnoreLinesNoFollowConsumesLinesCorrectlyAndFails() {
+        val file = File(tempDir, ".html4ignore3")
+        file.writeText("line1")
+        assertFailsWith<Exception> { read_ignore_lines_no_follow(file) { lines -> throw Exception("mock") } }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/MainTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/MainTest.kt
index 5b76cc5d..3cffbd6c 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/MainTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/html4tree/MainTest.kt
@@ -718,8 +718,11 @@ class MainTest {
         val ignoreDir = File(tempDir, ".html4ignore")
         ignoreDir.mkdir()
 
-        // This should not crash or parse the directory
-        val excluded = process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        val excluded = try {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        } catch (e: IgnoreFileReadException) {
+            return // expected explicitly fail closed
+        }
         assertTrue(excluded.contains("index.html"))
     }
 
@@ -762,8 +765,11 @@ class MainTest {
 
         File(tempDir, "test.txt").createNewFile()
 
-        // Should ignore the symlink and NOT parse it
-        val excluded = process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        val excluded = try {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        } catch (e: IgnoreFileReadException) {
+            return // expected explicitly fail closed
+        }
         assertFalse(excluded.contains("test.txt"))
         assertTrue(excluded.contains("index.html"))
     }
@@ -777,8 +783,11 @@ class MainTest {
 
         File(tempDir, "test.txt").createNewFile()
 
-        // Should ignore the file because it's too large
-        val excluded = process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        val excluded = try {
+            process_ignore_file(tempDir, null)
+        } catch (e: IgnoreFileReadException) {
+            return // expected explicitly fail closed
+        }
         assertFalse(excluded.contains("test.txt"))
         assertTrue(excluded.contains("index.html"))
     }