November 2025 Patch Cycle: Edge, Identity, and Zero-Day Exploitation

The November 2025 patch cycle is a stark reminder that the network perimeter and foundational Windows components remain primary targets for sophisticated adversaries. While Microsoft addressed over 60 vulnerabilities, your immediate focus should be on a critical, actively exploited Windows Kernel zero-day and the relentless assault on internet-facing network appliances. Failure to act decisively on these fronts could lead to unacceptable risks.

Key Highlights for Security Leadership

The current Patch Tuesday landscape is defined by three key themes:

1. Active Zero-Day Exploitation: Microsoft has confirmed that CVE-2025-62215, a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Kernel, is being exploited in the wild. While requiring initial access, this flaw allows an attacker to escalate to full SYSTEM privileges, bypassing security controls and enabling lateral movement, credential dumping, and ransomware deployment.
2. The Unsecure Network Edge: As Nightwing’s ShadowScout team continues to track, both nation-state and criminal actors are systematically targeting perimeter devices. These appliances often lack robust EDR coverage, making them ideal entry points. Active campaigns are leveraging vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS/IOS XE (CVE-2025-20352, CVE-2025-20333) and WatchGuard Firebox (CVE-2025-9242). Allowing these devices to remain unpatched could be an open invitation for compromise.
3. High-Impact Enterprise Application Flaws: Critical vulnerabilities in SAP and Microsoft Office create significant risk vectors. A hardcoded credential vulnerability in SAP SQL Anywhere Monitor (CVE-2025-42890) offers attackers an easy path to administrative access. Meanwhile, an RCE in Microsoft Office (CVE-2025-62199) exploitable via the Preview Pane lowers the barrier for phishing campaigns to succeed, as it requires minimal user interaction.

Recommendations for Security Leaders: Prioritize and Act

Immediate actions should be guided by a risk-based approach focused on preventing initial access and halting privilege escalation. This can serve as a tactical directive to your security and IT operations teams.

1. Primary Priority: Patch the Actively Exploited Windows Kernel Zero-Day (CVE-2025-62215)

• Why It Matters: An active exploit exists. Once an attacker gains a foothold—through phishing or any other means—this vulnerability could be their key to full system control. It turns a minor breach into a catastrophic one. Patching this is a critical defensive win before the exploit becomes widely available.
• Your Action: Direct your teams to deploy the patch for CVE-2025-62215 on all Windows 10, 11, and Server (2019+) endpoints immediately. Use your asset management and patching systems to confirm 100% compliance.

2. Secondary Priority: Harden the Network Perimeter NOW

• Why It Matters: Chinese and Russian state actors, along with ransomware groups like Akira, are not just scanning—they are actively exploiting known firewall and VPN vulnerabilities to establish footholds. A compromised edge device gives them a direct, persistent bridge into your network.
• Your Action: Mandate the immediate patching of all internet-facing Cisco, WatchGuard, and other network appliances. Specifically target CVE-2025-9242 (WatchGuard) and multiple Cisco flaws (CVE-2025-20352, CVE-2025-20333). If a device cannot be patched, isolate it from the internet until it can be replaced. This is critical for strong cyber hygiene.

3. Tertiary Priority: Mitigate High-Risk Application Vulnerabilities

• Why It Matters: Enterprise applications like SAP and Microsoft Office are treasure troves of sensitive data and user credentials. A 10/10 CVSS score for a hardcoded credential in SAP (CVE-2025-42890) is an easy target for automated attacks. The Office Preview Pane RCE (CVE-2025-62199) weaponizes a common user workflow, making it a dangerous tool for phishing campaigns.
• Your Action: Instruct your SAP team to prioritize patches for CVE-2025-42890 and CVE-2025-42887. Ensure the Office patch for CVE-2025-62199 is included in your standard deployment cycle but communicate the risk of Preview Pane exploitation to your threat hunters and security awareness teams.

Additional Intelligence for Threat Hunters

Equip your threat hunters with this intelligence to proactively search for indicators of attack:

• Hunt for Kernel Exploitation: Even after patching, hunt for signs of a prior compromise. Look for anomalous processes running with SYSTEM privileges, suspicious kernel driver loading, and unusual parent-child process relationships on critical systems.
• Monitor for Office Exploitation: Your team should be hunting for suspicious child processes spawned by Office applications (e.g., outlook.exe spawning powershell.exe or cmd.exe). Pay close attention to systems where the Preview Pane is heavily used.
• Scrutinize WordPress Plugins: As noted by Wordfence, critical vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2025-11833) are being actively exploited in WordPress plugins like Post SMTP. If your organization uses WordPress, instruct teams to verify that all plugins are updated immediately to prevent website takeovers.

Patching the known-exploited vulnerabilities and securing your network edge are some of the most effective steps you can take right now to prevent a breach. Nightwing will continue to monitor the threat landscape for any evolution of these threats.

Stay vigilant.

Nightwing’s ShadowScout Team