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AIF-C01 Practice Question: A machine learning engineer notices that a…
A machine learning engineer notices that a SageMaker training job failed due to insufficient permissions to access a KMS-encrypted S3 bucket. The training job's IAM role has S3 access permissions. What should be done to resolve the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume S3 permissions alone are sufficient, overlooking that KMS-encrypted objects require explicit kms:Decrypt permissions on the IAM role, not just S3 bucket policies or managed policies like SageMakerFullAccess.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Add a kms:Decrypt permission to the IAM role for the specific KMS key used to encrypt the S3 bucket
The training job failed because the IAM role lacks permission to decrypt the KMS key used for S3 server-side encryption. Even with S3 access permissions, SageMaker cannot read encrypted objects without the kms:Decrypt action on the specific KMS key. Adding kms:Decrypt to the role's policy for that key resolves the issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a new KMS key and re-encrypt the data
Why it's wrong here
This is unnecessary and time-consuming; the issue is lack of permissions.
- ✗
Assign the SageMakerFullAccess policy to the role
Why it's wrong here
SageMakerFullAccess includes many permissions but may not include the specific KMS decrypt; it's also overly permissive.
- ✓
Add a kms:Decrypt permission to the IAM role for the specific KMS key used to encrypt the S3 bucket
Why this is correct
The role needs decryption permissions to access the encrypted data.
- ✗
Change the S3 bucket's default encryption to S3-managed keys (SSE-S3)
Why it's wrong here
This would change the encryption method but may not be allowed or desired; also the role would need new permissions.
Visual reference
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AIF-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AIF-C01 exam.