diff --git a/src/ypms/auth/router.py b/src/ypms/auth/router.py
index 3c10f57..9a4d9d4 100644
--- a/src/ypms/auth/router.py
+++ b/src/ypms/auth/router.py
@@ -62,6 +62,20 @@ def _issue_access_token(user: User) -> str:
     )
 
 
+def _audit_login_failure(db: Session, user: User | None, ip: str, reason: str) -> None:
+    """NIST AU-2 / source RFP C.5.7.39: record unsuccessful logon attempts.
+
+    The attempted username is recorded only when it matches a real account
+    (as the audit actor). Unknown-user attempts store no username: people
+    sometimes type a password into the username field.
+    """
+    audit.record(
+        db, actor=user, action="login_failed", entity="User",
+        entity_id=user.id if user else None, after={"reason": reason}, ip=ip,
+    )
+    db.commit()
+
+
 @router.post("/login", response_model=LoginResponse)
 def login(
     request: Request,
@@ -71,6 +85,7 @@ def login(
     ip = request.client.host if request.client else "unknown"
     if not login_limiter.allow(ip):
         # NIST AC-7: cap unsuccessful logon attempts.
+        _audit_login_failure(db, None, ip, "throttled")
         raise HTTPException(
             status.HTTP_429_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS,
             "too many login attempts; try again shortly",
@@ -78,10 +93,12 @@ def login(
         )
     user = db.query(User).filter(User.username == form.username).one_or_none()
     if not user or not verify_password(form.password, user.password_hash):
+        _audit_login_failure(db, user, ip, "bad_credentials" if user else "unknown_user")
         # Deliberately identical error surface so we don't leak whether the
         # username exists (IA-6 authenticator feedback discipline).
         raise HTTPException(status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, "invalid credentials")
     if not user.is_active:
+        _audit_login_failure(db, user, ip, "inactive")
         raise HTTPException(status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, "user inactive")
 
     audit.record(
diff --git a/tests/auth/test_router.py b/tests/auth/test_router.py
index 60530f5..8cfe87f 100644
--- a/tests/auth/test_router.py
+++ b/tests/auth/test_router.py
@@ -251,3 +251,50 @@ def test_login_lockout_after_five_failed_attempts(
     )
     assert r.status_code == 429
     assert r.headers["Retry-After"] == "900"
+
+
+# ---------------- failed-login audit (NIST AU-2, C.5.7.39) ----------------
+
+
+def _failures(db: Session) -> list[tuple[str | None, int | None, dict[str, str] | None]]:
+    from sqlalchemy import select
+
+    from ypms.audit.models import AuditLog
+
+    rows = db.execute(select(AuditLog).where(AuditLog.action == "login_failed")).scalars()
+    return [(r.actor_username, r.entity_id, r.after) for r in rows]
+
+
+def test_bad_password_is_audited_against_the_account(
+    app_client: TestClient, db: Session, staff_user: User
+) -> None:
+    app_client.post("/auth/login", data={"username": staff_user.username, "password": "nope"})
+    assert _failures(db) == [(staff_user.username, staff_user.id, {"reason": "bad_credentials"})]
+
+
+def test_unknown_user_is_audited_without_the_typed_username(
+    app_client: TestClient, db: Session
+) -> None:
+    app_client.post("/auth/login", data={"username": "my-actual-password!", "password": "x"})
+    assert _failures(db) == [(None, None, {"reason": "unknown_user"})]
+
+
+def test_inactive_user_login_is_audited(
+    app_client: TestClient, db: Session, staff_user: User
+) -> None:
+    staff_user.is_active = False
+    db.flush()
+    r = app_client.post(
+        "/auth/login",
+        data={"username": staff_user.username, "password": "correct-horse-battery"},
+    )
+    assert r.status_code == 401
+    assert _failures(db) == [(staff_user.username, staff_user.id, {"reason": "inactive"})]
+
+
+def test_throttled_login_is_audited(app_client: TestClient, db: Session) -> None:
+    for _ in range(6):
+        r = app_client.post("/auth/login", data={"username": "ghost", "password": "x"})
+    assert r.status_code == 429
+    reasons = [after["reason"] for _, _, after in _failures(db) if after]
+    assert reasons == ["unknown_user"] * 5 + ["throttled"]