Which BGP attribute is used to indicate the origin of the route?

• A. Origin
• B. AS Path
• C. Next Hop
• D. Local Preference

Answer: (A)

The attribute that indicates where a BGP route came from is the Origin attribute. It is a well-known, mandatory path attribute that tells you the source of the route information. Its value can be I for IGP, E for EGP, or ? for incomplete (often due to redistribution from another protocol). This helps the router decide between multiple routes to the same prefix, because routes with IGP origin are typically preferred over those with EGP origin, and those with incomplete origin are preferred the least.

So, while AS Path shows the sequence of ASes the route traversed, and Next Hop indicates the next-hop IP to reach the destination, and Local Preference is used to choose among exit points within an AS, the Origin attribute specifically communicates where the route originated from.