This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 developer needs to securely store database credentials for a Lambda function. Which AWS service should be used?
AWS Secrets Manager
Secrets Manager is purpose-built for storing and rotating secrets.
AWS CloudHSM
Why wrong: CloudHSM is a hardware security module for key generation, not secret storage.
AWS KMS
Why wrong: KMS is used for encryption keys, not for storing secrets directly.
Amazon DynamoDB
Why wrong: DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not designed for secret storage.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager is the correct service because it is purpose-built for securely storing, rotating, and managing database credentials and other secrets throughout their lifecycle. It integrates natively with Lambda via the AWS Secrets Manager API, allowing the function to retrieve credentials at runtime without hardcoding them, and supports automatic rotation using built-in or custom Lambda rotation functions. This makes it the ideal choice for securely handling database credentials in a serverless application.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager is purpose-built for storing and rotating secrets.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM is a hardware security module for key generation, not secret storage.
AWS KMS
Why it's wrong here
KMS is used for encryption keys, not for storing secrets directly.
Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not designed for secret storage.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS KMS (which only manages encryption keys) with AWS Secrets Manager (which manages the full lifecycle of secrets), leading them to choose KMS because they think 'encryption' is the primary requirement, when in fact the question asks for secure storage and management of credentials, not just encryption.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, AWS Secrets Manager encrypts secrets using envelope encryption with AWS KMS, where the secret data is encrypted with a data key that is itself encrypted by a KMS customer master key (CMK). The service supports automatic rotation by invoking a Lambda function that updates the secret and the associated database password in a single atomic operation, ensuring consistency. In a real-world scenario, a Lambda function can retrieve credentials using the AWS SDK with IAM permissions scoped to a specific secret, and the secret can be cached using the Secrets Manager caching client to reduce latency and API costs.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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FAQ
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Secrets Manager — AWS Secrets Manager is the correct service because it is purpose-built for securely storing, rotating, and managing database credentials and other secrets throughout their lifecycle. It integrates natively with Lambda via the AWS Secrets Manager API, allowing the function to retrieve credentials at runtime without hardcoding them, and supports automatic rotation using built-in or custom Lambda rotation functions. This makes it the ideal choice for securely handling database credentials in a serverless application.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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