A vulnerability in the inter-device communication mechanisms between devices that are running Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software and devices that are running Cisco Firepower Management (FMC) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root permissions on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the expert mode of an affected device and submitting specific commands to a connected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of an FMC device if the attacker has administrative privileges on an associated FTD device. Alternatively, a successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of an FTD device if the attacker has administrative privileges on an associated FMC device.