mediumMultiple Choice
300-410 Practice Question: Statements about MPLS label imposition and…
Which of the following statements about MPLS label imposition and disposition is true?
⚠ Common exam trap
The 300-410 exam often tests the misconception that the egress LER always pops the label, ignoring PHP, or that the penultimate router pushes labels, confusing imposition with disposition.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The ingress LER performs the label push operation, and the egress LER performs the label pop operation unless PHP is used.
In MPLS, the ingress Label Edge Router (LER) imposes (pushes) a label onto incoming IP packets, and the egress LER typically removes (pops) the label before forwarding the packet to the destination network. However, with Penultimate Hop Popping (PHP), the penultimate router pops the label so that the egress LER receives an unlabeled packet, reducing its processing load. Thus, statement B is correct.
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 egress LER always performs the label pop operation.
Why it's wrong here
Penultimate-hop popping lets the egress LER receive an unlabelled packet, so it need not pop; PHP exists precisely to spare it that lookup. The statement is tempting because explicit pop at the egress LER is valid configuration, and egress LERs do perform disposition when PHP is disabled.
- ✓
The ingress LER performs the label push operation, and the egress LER performs the label pop operation unless PHP is used.
Why this is correct
At the ingress LER, the label push operation imposes an MPLS label on incoming packets; at the egress LER, the label pop operation removes it. With Penultimate Hop Popping, the penultimate router pops the label instead, so the egress LER receives an unlabelled packet.
- ✗
The penultimate hop router always pushes an additional label.
Why it's wrong here
The penultimate hop router typically pops the top label (penultimate hop popping) so the egress router receives an unlabelled or single-label packet; it does not push an extra label. It is tempting because penultimate hop routers do perform label operations, and pushing would be correct for label stacking at an ingress LER.
- ✗
Label disposition occurs only at the ingress LER.
Why it's wrong here
Disposition, the removal of the label stack, happens at the egress edge or penultimate hop, not solely at the ingress label edge router, where imposition occurs. It is tempting because ingress and egress edge routers are both label edge routers, and it would be correct if the statement referred to label imposition.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Device Management and Network Monitoring (SNMP, Syslog, NetFlow)
Key term
LDP Protocol
LDP, or Label Distribution Protocol, is a protocol that routers use to automatically exchange labels that enable MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) to create fast, efficient paths for data packets across a network.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
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