DVA-C02 Security Practice Question
A developer needs to grant an IAM user access to an S3 bucket for read-only operations. Which IAM policy action should be used?
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
✓
s3:GetObject
S3:GetObject allows reading objects from S3, which is required for read-only operations. Option A (s3:PutObject) allows writing, option B (s3:DeleteObject) allows deletion, and option C (s3:ListBucket) allows listing bucket contents but not reading object content, so none of these provide read-only access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
s3:PutObject
Why it's wrong here
s3:PutObject is a write permission that allows the caller to upload or overwrite objects in the bucket; granting it would let the user modify bucket contents, which is the opposite of read-only access and would violate the least-privilege requirement stated in the scenario.
- ✗
s3:DeleteObject
Why it's wrong here
s3:DeleteObject permits removing objects from the bucket entirely, an irreversible write-class operation. Including this action in the policy would allow data loss and is fundamentally incompatible with a read-only access requirement, regardless of what other permissions accompany it.
- ✗
s3:ListBucket
Why it's wrong here
s3:ListBucket only grants the ability to enumerate the keys and metadata of objects stored in the bucket (equivalent to an S3 ListObjects call) — it does not grant permission to retrieve the actual contents of any object, so a user with only this action could see filenames but not read file data.
- ✓
s3:GetObject
Why this is correct
s3:GetObject is the specific action that permits downloading an object's content from S3, and it carries no ability to write, overwrite, or delete anything, making it the precise, minimal permission that satisfies a read-only access requirement for retrieving object data.
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
About these practice questions
One of 1,135 original DVA-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.