Policy-based routing on a router sets ip next-hop 203.0.113.1 for matched traffic, but there is no route to 203.0.113.1 in the routing table. What happens to the matched packets?

When Policy-Based Routing (PBR) is configured with a set ip next-hop command, the router attempts to forward matched traffic to that specific next-hop IP address. If there is no route in the routing table to reach the specified PBR next-hop (203.0.113.1 in this case), the router cannot determine an outgoing interface or MAC address for the packets. Consequently, these packets are dropped because the PBR next-hop is considered unreachable. The router does not revert to normal destination-based routing for traffic explicitly matched and directed by PBR, as PBR overrides the standard routing table lookup. Punting to the control plane is typically for exceptions or specific features, not a default action for an unreachable PBR next-hop. Encapsulation and forwarding to a default gateway would only occur if the PBR policy itself directed traffic to a default gateway, which is not implied here.