ARP

ARP or Address Resolution Protocol is a protocol used to map an IP address to a physical address on the network, such as a MAC address. A device uses ARP when it needs to forward a packet to another device on the same network but only has the IP address. ARP broadcasts a request packet to all devices on the local network to find who owns the IP address. The device with the matching IP address replies with its MAC address. ARP maintains a cache of previously resolved addresses to minimize traffic. It is an essential protocol in network communication, but it also exposes certain security vulnerabilities like ARP spoofing.