What is the purpose of DHCP Snooping?

DHCP Snooping is a security feature that plays a critical role in protecting the integrity of a network's DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) operations. Its primary purpose is to prevent rogue DHCP servers from allocating IP addresses to clients, which could lead to network disruptions or security breaches.

When DHCP Snooping is enabled on a network switch, it monitors DHCP messages and maintains a binding table that maps MAC addresses to IP addresses assigned by legitimate DHCP servers. This action helps to ensure that only trusted DHCP servers are allowed to respond to DHCP requests. By filtering out DHCP responses from unauthorized or rogue servers, DHCP Snooping protects clients from receiving incorrect IP configurations, which can lead to issues such as man-in-the-middle attacks or loss of network connectivity.

Other options, while related to DHCP or network security, do not directly reflect the primary role DHCP Snooping plays. For instance, another option suggests allocating IP addresses dynamically, which is a fundamental capability of DHCP itself but not the purpose of Snooping. Similarly, securing wireless connections and restricting VLANs are important concepts in network security but are not addressed by DHCP Snooping directly.