What is mac flooding?

Mac flooding is a type of network attack where the attacker floods a switch with a large number of fake MAC addresses. This overwhelms the switch's CAM table, causing it to enter into a fail-open state where it will begin to act like a hub, broadcasting all network traffic to every port on the switch.

This type of attack can be used to eavesdrop on network traffic, intercept sensitive information, or launch further attacks such as a man-in-the-middle attack. It can also cause network congestion and slow down the performance of the network.

To prevent mac flooding attacks, network administrators can implement port security measures, such as limiting the number of MAC addresses allowed on a port, using VLANs to separate traffic, or implementing protocols like DHCP snooping and dynamic ARP inspection. Regularly monitoring network traffic and looking for unusual patterns can also help detect and mitigate mac flooding attacks.