DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is using AWS Lake Formation to manage permissions on a data lake in Amazon S3. The engineer grants SELECT permission on a table to an IAM role used by an Amazon Athena user. However, the user reports that queries against the table return an 'Access Denied' error. The engineer verifies that the IAM role has the necessary S3 permissions and that Lake Formation permissions are correctly set. What is the most likely cause of the error?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is focusing on S3 bucket policies or Data Catalog integration, while the missing lakeformation:GetDataAccess permission is the subtle requirement for data access with Lake Formation.
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
✓
The IAM role lacks the lakeformation:GetDataAccess permission.
When Lake Formation manages access, IAM principals need the lakeformation:GetDataAccess permission to obtain temporary credentials for data access. Without it, Athena cannot read data even if table permissions are granted. This permission is often overlooked because it is not part of standard S3 or Glue permissions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The Athena workgroup has a query result location that the IAM role cannot access.
Why it's wrong here
While Athena requires access to the query result location, the error described is specifically about accessing the table data, not writing results. If the result location were the issue, the error would occur after query execution, not as an access denied on the table. The engineer verified S3 permissions for the role.
- ✗
The AWS Glue Data Catalog is not integrated with Lake Formation.
Why it's wrong here
If the Data Catalog were not integrated, the engineer would not be able to grant Lake Formation permissions on the table. The scenario states that permissions are correctly set, implying integration is in place. This is not the likely cause of the access denied error.
- ✗
The S3 bucket policy does not allow access from the Athena service.
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation manages access to data via its own permission model, and the S3 bucket policy is typically not the primary control when Lake Formation is enabled. The engineer already verified S3 permissions, and Lake Formation uses a service-linked role to access data, so the bucket policy is unlikely the cause.
- ✓
The IAM role lacks the lakeformation:GetDataAccess permission.
Why this is correct
AWS Lake Formation requires the IAM principal to have the lakeformation:GetDataAccess permission to obtain temporary credentials for accessing data. Even with SELECT permission on the table, without this permission, Athena cannot retrieve data from S3. This is a common oversight when configuring Lake Formation permissions.
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
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
This DEA-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 DEA-C01 exam.