DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a containerized application on Amazon ECS with Fargate launch type. The application needs to access an Amazon RDS MySQL database using credentials stored in AWS Secrets Manager. The ECS task role has the following IAM policy: {"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[{"Effect":"Allow","Action":["secretsmanager:GetSecretValue"],"Resource":"arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-east-1:123456789012:secret:prod-db-*"}]}. The application fails to retrieve the secret with an AccessDeniedException. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The secret's resource-based policy denies access to the task role.
Option B is correct because the resource-based policy on the secret must explicitly grant the ECS task role permission to retrieve the secret, even if the task role has an allow policy. Option A is wrong because the task role policy uses a wildcard, which matches the secret name. Option C is wrong because Fargate tasks can access Secrets Manager via VPC endpoints without internet. Option D is wrong because the task role, not the task execution role, is used for accessing secrets from the application.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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 task execution role does not have permission to retrieve the secret.
Why it's wrong here
The task execution role is used for pulling images, not for runtime secret retrieval.
✓
The secret's resource-based policy denies access to the task role.
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager secrets have resource-based policies that can deny access.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
The task is in a private subnet without a VPC endpoint to Secrets Manager.
Why it's wrong here
Fargate tasks can use VPC endpoints or access Secrets Manager over the internet if configured.
✗
The secret name does not match the pattern in the policy.
Why it's wrong here
The wildcard * matches the secret name.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DVA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The secret's resource-based policy denies access to the task role. — Option B is correct because the resource-based policy on the secret must explicitly grant the ECS task role permission to retrieve the secret, even if the task role has an allow policy. Option A is wrong because the task role policy uses a wildcard, which matches the secret name. Option C is wrong because Fargate tasks can access Secrets Manager via VPC endpoints without internet. Option D is wrong because the task role, not the task execution role, is used for accessing secrets from the application.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DVA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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