diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 6af001fd..6eb58b9e 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -16,24 +16,14 @@ import { createDebugLogger, type DebugLogger } from "./output/debug.js";
 import { buildSuggestedFixCommandPlan } from "./remediation/fix-commands.js";
 import { scanProjectForPackageUsage } from "./usage/scanner.js";
 import { getCliVersion } from "./utils/version-info.js";
-import {
-  blockedAdvisoryRequestHint,
-  fetchErrorCaCertHint,
-  isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError,
-  isRateLimitError,
-  isServerError,
-  isSslCertificateError,
-  offlineDbSyncHint,
-  rateLimitAdvisoryRequestHint,
-  serverAdvisoryRequestHint,
-  sslCertificateErrorHint,
-} from "./utils/network.js";
+import { getNetworkErrorHint, offlineDbSyncHint } from "./utils/network.js";
 import { formatAdvisoryDbFreshness } from "./utils/time.js";
 import { pluralize, nearestCommand } from "./utils/string.js";
 import type { ParsedOptions } from "./types.js";
 import { EXIT_ERROR } from "./types.js";
 import {
   formatAdvisorySourceLine,
+  formatHintLines,
   logInfo,
   logWarn,
   printCacheSummary,
@@ -765,27 +755,8 @@ if (parsedArgs) {
     });
     auditLogHandle.close();
 
-    if (isSslCertificateError(error)) {
-      const [hint, ...rest] = sslCertificateErrorHint();
-      console.error(chalk.yellow(hint));
-      rest.forEach(line => console.error(chalk.gray(line)));
-    } else if (isRateLimitError(errorMessage)) {
-      const [hint, ...rest] = rateLimitAdvisoryRequestHint();
-      console.error(chalk.yellow(hint));
-      rest.forEach(line => console.error(chalk.gray(line)));
-    } else if (isServerError(errorMessage)) {
-      const [hint, ...rest] = serverAdvisoryRequestHint();
-      console.error(chalk.yellow(hint));
-      rest.forEach(line => console.error(chalk.gray(line)));
-    } else if (isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError(errorMessage)) {
-      const [hint, ...rest] = blockedAdvisoryRequestHint();
-      console.error(chalk.yellow(hint));
-      rest.forEach(line => console.error(chalk.gray(line)));
-    } else {
-      const [hint, ...rest] = fetchErrorCaCertHint();
-      console.error(chalk.yellow(hint));
-      rest.forEach(line => console.error(chalk.gray(line)));
-    }
+    formatHintLines(getNetworkErrorHint(error, errorMessage))
+      .forEach(line => console.error(line));
     process.exit(1);
   });
   }
@@ -863,4 +834,3 @@ async function scanProject(params: {
   };
 }
 
-
diff --git a/src/output/formatters.ts b/src/output/formatters.ts
index 3a67bb03..131736c0 100644
--- a/src/output/formatters.ts
+++ b/src/output/formatters.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,15 @@ export function formatAdvisorySourceLine(sourceLabel: string): string {
   return `${match[1]} (${chalk.cyan(match[2])})`;
 }
 
+export function formatHintLines(lines: string[]): string[] {
+  if (lines.length === 0) return [];
+  const [first, ...rest] = lines;
+  return [
+    chalk.yellow(first),
+    ...rest.map(line => chalk.gray(line)),
+  ];
+}
+
 // MAL-* is the OSV prefix for malicious code advisories
 function isMaliciousAdvisory(finding: Finding): boolean {
   return finding.vulnerabilities.some(v => v.id.startsWith("MAL-"));
@@ -338,4 +347,3 @@ export function sortFindingsForOutput(findings: Finding[]): Finding[] {
 export function countUniqueAdvisories(findings: Finding[]): number {
   return new Set(findings.flatMap(f => f.vulnerabilities.map(v => v.id))).size;
 }
-
diff --git a/src/utils/network.ts b/src/utils/network.ts
index 31bb7f90..dc622f22 100644
--- a/src/utils/network.ts
+++ b/src/utils/network.ts
@@ -158,3 +158,11 @@ export function isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError(message: string): boolean {
 
   return /^(401|403|407|408|451)\b/.test(finalCause);
 }
+
+export function getNetworkErrorHint(error: unknown, errorMessage: string): string[] {
+  if (isSslCertificateError(error)) return sslCertificateErrorHint();
+  if (isRateLimitError(errorMessage)) return rateLimitAdvisoryRequestHint();
+  if (isServerError(errorMessage)) return serverAdvisoryRequestHint();
+  if (isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError(errorMessage)) return blockedAdvisoryRequestHint();
+  return fetchErrorCaCertHint();
+}
diff --git a/tests/cli-integration.test.ts b/tests/cli-integration.test.ts
index def7728a..196f7b5e 100644
--- a/tests/cli-integration.test.ts
+++ b/tests/cli-integration.test.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ jest.unstable_mockModule("../src/advisory/osv-sync.js", () => ({
 
 jest.unstable_mockModule("../src/output/formatters.js", () => ({
   formatAdvisorySourceLine: jest.fn<any>((sourceLabel: string) => sourceLabel),
+  formatHintLines: jest.fn<any>((lines: string[]) => lines),
   logInfo: logInfoMock,
   logWarn: logWarnMock,
   printCacheSummary: printCacheSummaryMock,
diff --git a/tests/network.test.ts b/tests/network.test.ts
index 4cc5c4f0..094d66f0 100644
--- a/tests/network.test.ts
+++ b/tests/network.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,16 @@
-import { isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError, isRateLimitError, isServerError, isSslCertificateError, extractErrorMessage } from "../src/utils/network.js";
+import {
+  blockedAdvisoryRequestHint,
+  extractErrorMessage,
+  fetchErrorCaCertHint,
+  getNetworkErrorHint,
+  isLikelyBlockedAdvisoryRequestError,
+  isRateLimitError,
+  isServerError,
+  isSslCertificateError,
+  rateLimitAdvisoryRequestHint,
+  serverAdvisoryRequestHint,
+  sslCertificateErrorHint,
+} from "../src/utils/network.js";
 
 describe("extractErrorMessage", () => {
   it("returns the message of a plain Error", () => {
@@ -131,3 +143,35 @@ describe("isServerError", () => {
     expect(isServerError("API failed: 500 Internal Server Error")).toBe(false);
   });
 });
+
+describe("getNetworkErrorHint", () => {
+  it("returns the SSL certificate hint for SSL errors", () => {
+    const err = Object.assign(new Error("fetch failed"), { code: "SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN" });
+
+    expect(getNetworkErrorHint(err, "fetch failed")).toEqual(sslCertificateErrorHint());
+  });
+
+  it("returns the rate-limit hint for OSV 429 errors", () => {
+    const message = "OSV batch query failed for https://api.osv.dev: OSV batch query failed: 429 Too Many Requests";
+
+    expect(getNetworkErrorHint(new Error(message), message)).toEqual(rateLimitAdvisoryRequestHint());
+  });
+
+  it("returns the server-error hint for OSV 5xx errors", () => {
+    const message = "OSV batch query failed for https://api.osv.dev: OSV batch query failed: 503 Service Unavailable";
+
+    expect(getNetworkErrorHint(new Error(message), message)).toEqual(serverAdvisoryRequestHint());
+  });
+
+  it("returns the blocked-advisory hint for likely blocked OSV requests", () => {
+    const message = "OSV batch query failed for https://api.osv.dev: fetch failed";
+
+    expect(getNetworkErrorHint(new Error(message), message)).toEqual(blockedAdvisoryRequestHint());
+  });
+
+  it("returns the CA certificate fallback hint for unrelated errors", () => {
+    const message = "Unexpected scan failure";
+
+    expect(getNetworkErrorHint(new Error(message), message)).toEqual(fetchErrorCaCertHint());
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/output.test.ts b/tests/output.test.ts
index 48127baf..63d8b8b2 100644
--- a/tests/output.test.ts
+++ b/tests/output.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
   summarizeNextAction,
   summarizeRisk,
   formatRelLabel,
+  formatHintLines,
   formatFixCommandWithPublishDates,
   formatFixVersionPublishDate,
 } from "../src/output/formatters.js";
@@ -159,6 +160,21 @@ describe("output formatters", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("formats empty hint lines as empty output", () => {
+    expect(formatHintLines([])).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("formats the first hint line before gray detail lines", () => {
+    const lines = formatHintLines(["Hint: retry later", "Run: cve-lite . --offline"]);
+
+    expect(lines.map(line => stripAnsi(line))).toEqual([
+      "Hint: retry later",
+      "Run: cve-lite . --offline",
+    ]);
+    expect(lines[0]).toContain("Hint: retry later");
+    expect(lines[1]).toContain("Run: cve-lite . --offline");
+  });
+
   it("getPrimaryParent returns null for paths shorter than 3 nodes", () => {
     const shortPath = createFinding({
       dependencyPaths: [["project", "lodash"]],