CCNP Practice Question: Runs the following command on Router R1: R1# show…

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  The IPsec VPN tunnel is fully established and passing traffic.

  Why it's wrong here

  The MM_NO_STATE value in the 'show crypto isakmp sa' output indicates that no IKE phase 1 security association is present yet. A fully operational IPsec VPN requires an active IKE SA (typically shown as QM_IDLE or ACTIVE) plus an IPsec SA in 'show crypto ipsec sa' with encapsulation/decapsulation counters incrementing. Since MM_NO_STATE appears before phase 1 completes, no phase 2 negotiation can occur and therefore no traffic is being protected.

• ✓

  IKE Phase 1 is in progress but not yet complete.

  Why this is correct

  In IKEv1 main mode, MM_NO_STATE is the initial state entered when the IKE SA negotiation is starting but no proposal has been accepted. This state reflects an active attempt: the router is either sending or waiting for main mode packets, and the SA has not yet progressed to later states such as MM_SA_SETUP, MM_KEY_EXCH, or ultimately QM_IDLE. Thus, the tunnel is being built but is not finished, and the negotiation could be ongoing or stalled, but it is definitively not complete.

• ✗

  The ISAKMP SA has been deleted due to a timeout.

  Why it's wrong here

  An ISAKMP SA that has been deleted due to a timeout would not appear in the 'show crypto isakmp sa' table as an active entry; it would be removed from the output or marked as 'DEL' if the deletion were in progress. MM_NO_STATE indicates the router is actively maintaining a negotiation entry for that peer, meaning the SA lifecycle has not yet resulted in a timeout deletion. Rather than reflecting a past expired SA, this state shows a current, unresolved negotiation attempt in memory.

• ✗

  The remote peer has rejected the IKE proposal.

  Why it's wrong here

  If the remote peer rejected the IKE proposal, the initiator would typically receive a notify message (e.g., INVALID_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN) and the negotiation would either fail immediately, clear the SA entry, or retry with a different proposal. The MM_NO_STATE state alone does not contain any error information about a rejection; it is the same initial state regardless of whether the peer has not responded, is processing the proposal, or has sent a rejection that the router has not yet processed. To identify rejection specifically, you would need debug output like 'debug crypto isakmp' or an event counter, not the static state field.