Your organization uses 802 1X with a RADIUS server.

Junos OS 24.4 provides several server-failover options for 802.1X authentication to maintain network availability when the RADIUS server is unreachable.

Fallback Behavior (Option D): The use-cache fallback action allows the switch to consult its local cache of previously authenticated MAC addresses.

If a device was already authorized and its information is in the cache, the switch will continue to permit access based on those cached credentials.

However, if a new device (not in the cache) attempts to connect while the server is down, the switch cannot verify its credentials and will deny the access attempt. This matches the specific requirement to permit authorized devices while denying new ones.

Other Fallback Options:

permit (Option C): This would allow all devices (even new ones) to access the network, typically in a restricted "guest" or "bypass" VLAN.

deny (Option A): This would drop all traffic from all devices on the port if the server is unreachable.

vlan-name (Option B): This moves authenticated or unauthenticated users into a specific fallback VLAN.