Tenable Cloud Security clears IRAP PROTECTED, Microsoft patches 167 flaws

Tenable Cloud Security has completed an assessment at the PROTECTED level under the Information Security Registered Assessors Programme (IRAP), enabling Australian government agencies to deploy the platform with confidence.

An IRAP Assessor, endorsed by the Australian Signals Directorate, has reviewed Tenable's security controls for its Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) against the standards set by the Information Security Manual (ISM) at the PROTECTED level. The assessment provides an assurance to government organisations that Tenable Cloud Security's capabilities have undergone an independent evaluation, allowing agencies to make evidence-based decisions about using the platform to meet their cloud security requirements.

The IRAP assessment is specifically designed to address government needs for security assurance in cloud environments that handle information classified at the PROTECTED level and below. With this review, Tenable Cloud Security can now be considered by Australian government departments seeking to strengthen visibility across their cloud infrastructure and enhance detection and remediation of security exposures.

Cloud environments offer government agencies unparalleled agility and scalability, but they also introduce significant security complexities and risk exposure," said Robert Huber, chief security officer, head of Research, and president of Public Sector at Tenable. "The IRAP assessment is a critical assurance mechanism, and completing this 'PROTECTED' assessment underscores our unwavering commitment to meeting the high standards of the Australian government.

The adoption of multi-cloud approaches presents challenges for agencies, including fragmented security tools and limited internal knowledge about cloud security. Tenable Cloud Security aims to address these obstacles by providing a unified platform that integrates security throughout the entire cloud development lifecycle. By identifying and addressing vulnerabilities during earlier stages of development, organisations can reduce the risk window and improve threat visibility across their entire cloud footprint.

Patch Tuesday update

Tenable has also highlighted Microsoft's largest Patch Tuesday release to date, with 167 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) addressed in the company's October 2025 update. Of these, seven CVEs are rated critical, 158 are important, and two are listed as moderate. Nearly half (47.9%) of the patched vulnerabilities involve elevation of privilege, with remote code execution vulnerabilities accounting for 17.4% of the total.

October is the largest Patch Tuesday release to date, with Microsoft surpassing the previous record of 157 CVEs set in January 2025. With two months remaining this year, we've already blown last year's tally of 1,009 CVEs patched, as this month's release brings us up to 1,021 CVEs patched. Please note that our counts omit CVEs that were patched prior to Patch Tuesday or that do not list Microsoft as the issuer," said Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer, Tenable

Two security flaws in the Agere Modem, a third-party modem driver that has been bundled with Windows operating systems for nearly two decades, were emphasised as especially significant. CVE-2025-24990 has been exploited as a zero-day, while CVE-2025-24052 was publicly disclosed before the monthly update. Both flaws could allow attackers to gain administrator privileges, even if the modem is not in use. Microsoft addressed this by removing the driver, ltmdm64.sys, from Windows through the October cumulative update.

Narang pointed to an additional zero-day elevation of privilege vulnerability, CVE-2025-59230, found in Windows Remote Access Connection Manager (also referred to as RasMan). This service manages connections for VPNs and dial-up networks and has been featured numerous times in past Patch Tuesday fixes. "While RasMan is a frequent flyer on Patch Tuesday, appearing more than 20 times since January 2022, this is the first time we've seen it exploited in the wild as a zero day," Narang said.

Microsoft Office users are also advised to be cautious regarding two remote code execution vulnerabilities: CVE-2025-59227 and CVE-2025-59234. Both use the Preview Pane feature, so potential victims can be affected without opening the associated files. As Narang explained, "To execute these flaws, an attacker would social engineer a target into previewing an email with a malicious Microsoft Office document."