Exception traffic refers to packets that the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) cannot process normally and must be forwarded to the Routing Engine (RE) for further processing. This includes packets destined for the router itself or packets needing special handling that the PFE cannot provide. To protect the RE from being overwhelmed by such traffic, which could potentially impact the router's control plane functions, exception traffic is rate-limited. This means that there's a threshold to how much exception traffic can be sent to the RE, ensuring that the router's critical management and control functions remain stable and responsive even during high traffic volumes or attacks.