CVE-2025-62643: RBI Assistant Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2025-62643 Overview

The Restaurant Brands International (RBI) assistant platform through 2025-09-06 contains a critical security vulnerability that transmits user account passwords in cleartext e-mail messages. This insecure communication practice (CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information) exposes user credentials to potential interception by attackers monitoring network traffic or with access to email systems along the transmission path.

Restaurant Brands International operates several major fast-food chains including Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons. The vulnerable assistant platform is used across these brands, potentially affecting a significant number of users and employees who interact with the system.

Critical Impact

User credentials transmitted in cleartext emails can be intercepted through network sniffing, email server compromise, or man-in-the-middle attacks, leading to unauthorized account access across RBI's restaurant management systems.

Affected Products

• RBI Restaurant Brands International Assistant (through 2025-09-06)
• Associated platforms for Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons operations
• Internal assistant and management systems utilizing email-based credential transmission

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-10-17 - CVE CVE-2025-62643 published to NVD
• 2025-10-31 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-62643

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a fundamental security design flaw where the RBI assistant platform sends user passwords through email in plaintext format rather than using secure transmission methods. When users request password resets, create new accounts, or perform other credential-related actions, their passwords are delivered via unencrypted email messages.

The impact of this vulnerability is significant due to the network-accessible attack vector with no prerequisites required for exploitation. An attacker does not need any privileges or user interaction to potentially intercept these credentials. The scope of the vulnerability extends beyond the vulnerable component itself, as compromised credentials could provide access to additional systems and data.

Email messages traverse multiple systems between sender and recipient, including mail transfer agents, spam filters, and email servers. At any point along this path, an attacker with access to network traffic or email infrastructure could capture the cleartext passwords. Additionally, emails are often stored in plaintext on mail servers and recipient devices, creating persistent exposure of sensitive credentials.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the implementation of cleartext password transmission via email (CWE-319). The RBI assistant platform was designed to send passwords through standard email without implementing encryption at the application layer. This design decision violates security best practices which mandate that sensitive information like passwords should never be transmitted in cleartext through any channel, especially email which lacks end-to-end encryption by default.

Proper credential handling should involve secure password reset tokens with short expiration times, requiring users to set their own passwords through encrypted HTTPS connections rather than receiving passwords via email.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2025-62643 is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. Potential exploitation scenarios include:

Network Interception: Attackers positioned on the network path between the RBI email servers and the recipient can capture SMTP traffic containing cleartext passwords. This is particularly concerning on shared or public networks.

Email Server Compromise: If any mail server along the delivery path is compromised, attackers gain access to stored emails containing user credentials. This includes both RBI's outgoing mail servers and recipient mail servers.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Attackers who can position themselves between the email sender and recipient through DNS poisoning, ARP spoofing, or other techniques can intercept and read credential emails.

Email Account Compromise: If an attacker gains access to a user's email account through other means, they would have access to any historically sent password emails that remain in the inbox or archive.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-62643

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected email messages from RBI assistant platform containing password information
• Evidence of email interception or unauthorized access to mail servers in the delivery path
• Unauthorized logins to RBI systems from unusual locations or IP addresses following credential-related emails
• Anomalous traffic patterns on SMTP ports (25, 465, 587) suggesting email interception

Detection Strategies

• Monitor email logs for outbound messages from the RBI assistant platform containing password-related keywords
• Implement network traffic analysis to detect unencrypted SMTP traffic carrying sensitive data patterns
• Review authentication logs for suspicious login attempts that correlate with password reset or account creation emails
• Deploy email security gateways with content inspection capabilities to identify cleartext credential transmission

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable logging on mail transfer agents to track all email messages sent by the RBI assistant platform
• Configure SIEM alerts for authentication events following password-related email activity
• Monitor for reconnaissance activity targeting email infrastructure and SMTP services
• Implement user behavior analytics to detect account takeovers resulting from credential theft

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-62643

Immediate Actions Required

• Discontinue using the RBI assistant platform for any password-related communications until a patch is available
• Require all affected users to change their passwords immediately through secure channels
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all RBI platform accounts to reduce impact of credential exposure
• Review authentication logs for any unauthorized access that may have resulted from credential interception

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2025-10-31, no vendor patch has been publicly announced for this vulnerability. Organizations should monitor official RBI security communications and the Malwarebytes news coverage for updates on remediation efforts. Additional technical details are available in the original security research documenting the vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Implement a secure password reset flow using time-limited tokens delivered via encrypted channels instead of sending actual passwords
• Deploy email encryption solutions such as S/MIME or PGP for any sensitive communications that must occur via email
• Configure email security policies to block or quarantine outbound emails containing password patterns
• Utilize a separate, secure communication channel for credential-related information such as encrypted messaging or secure portals

# Example: Block outbound emails containing password keywords (Postfix configuration)
# Add to /etc/postfix/header_checks
/^Subject:.*password/i REJECT Cleartext password transmission blocked by security policy

# Reload Postfix configuration
postfix reload