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Chapter 34 DHCP Snooping Configuration 
34.1 Introduction to DHCP Snooping 
DHCP Snooping means that the switch monitors the IP-getting process of DHCP CLIENT via 
DHCP protocol. It prevents DHCP attacks and illegal DHCP SERVER by setting trust ports and 
untrust  ports.  And  the  DHCP messages  from  trust  ports  can  be  forwarded without  being 
verified. In typical settings, trust ports are used to connect DHCP SERVER or DHCP RELAY 
Proxy, and untrust ports are used to connect DHCP CLINET. The switch will forward the DCHP 
request messages from untrust ports, but not DHCP reply ones. If any DHCP reply messages 
is received from a untrust  port, besides giving an alarm, the switch will also implement 
designated  actions  on  the  port  according  to  settings,  such  as  “shutdown”,  or  distributing  a 
“blackhole”.  If  DHCP  Snooping  binding  is  enabled,  the  switch  will  save  binding  information 
(including  its  MAC  address,  IP address,  IP lease,  VLAN number  and  port  number)  of each 
DHCP CLINET on untrust ports in DHCP snooping binding table With such information, DHCP 
Snooping  can  combine  modules  like  dot1x  and  ARP,  or  implement  user-access-control 
independently. 
Defense against  Fake  DHCP  Server:  once  the  switch  intercepts  the  DHCP  Server  reply 
packets(including  DHCPOFFER,  DHCPACK,  and  DHCPNAK),  it  will  alarm  and  respond 
according to the situation(shutdown the port or send Black hole)? 
Defense  against  DHCP  over  load  attacks: To avoid too many DHCP messages attacking 
CPU, users should limit the DHCP speed of receiving packets on trusted and non-trusted ports. 
Record the binding data of DHCP: DHCP SNOOPING will record the binding data allocated 
by DHCP SERVER while forwarding DHCP messages, it can also upload the binding data to 
the specified server to backup it. The binding data is mainly used to configure the dynamic 
users of dot1x user based ports. Please refer to the chapter called“dot1x configuration” to find 
more about the usage of dot1x use-based mode. 
Add binding  ARP: DHCP SNOOPING can add static binding ARP according to the binding 
data after capturing binding data, thus to avoid ARP cheating. 
Add  trusted  users:  DHCP  SNOOPING  can  add  trusted  user  list  entries  according  to  the 
parameters  in  binding  data  after  capturing  binding  data;  thus  these  users can  access  all 
resources without DOT1X authentication. 
Automatic Recovery: A while after the switch shut down the port or send blockhole, it should 
automatically recover the communication of the port or source MAC and send information to 
Log Server via syslog. 
LOG  Function:  When  the  switch  discovers  abnormal  received  packets  or  automatically 










