An ArubaOS-CX switch enforces 802.

For an ArubaOS-CX switch enforcing 802.1X on a port without any fallback options or port-access roles configured, and where the supplicant on the connected client has not completed authentication, the only type of traffic the authenticator accepts from the client is EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol). EAP is a universal authentication framework used in 802.1X for message exchange during the authentication process. The switch allows EAP packets because they are necessary for the client and the authentication server to perform the authentication process. This is standard behavior for 802.1X authenticators, which is to permit EAP traffic to pass through even before authentication is successful to facilitate the authentication exchange. This information is supported by the IEEE 802.1X standard and ArubaOS-CX security configuration guides.