Question 907 of 1,616
Development with AWS ServicesmediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

CloudFront 502 Error: Internal ALB Not Reachable

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 is using Amazon CloudFront to serve content from an Application Load Balancer (ALB) origin. The ALB is configured as an internal load balancer in a VPC. Users are getting HTTP 502 errors when accessing the CloudFront distribution. 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 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 ALB is not internet-facing, so CloudFront cannot reach it.

The ALB is configured as an internal load balancer, meaning it only has private IP addresses and is accessible only within the VPC. CloudFront, being an AWS edge service outside the VPC, cannot route traffic to a private IP address without additional configuration such as a VPC origin or a public-facing ALB. This results in HTTP 502 errors because CloudFront cannot establish a connection to the origin.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

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 ALB has AWS WAF enabled, blocking CloudFront IP addresses.

    Why it's wrong here

    WAF would return 403, not 502.

  • The CloudFront distribution's cache behavior is set to cache all objects.

    Why it's wrong here

    Caching does not cause 502.

  • The ALB is not internet-facing, so CloudFront cannot reach it.

    Why this is correct

    CloudFront cannot reach internal ALBs.

    Clue confirmation

    The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • The CloudFront distribution is not associated with a VPN connection to the VPC.

    Why it's wrong here

    CloudFront doesn't require VPN.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may assume CloudFront can reach any AWS resource within the same account, but they overlook that internal load balancers are not publicly accessible, and CloudFront requires a publicly routable endpoint or a VPC origin configuration.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

CloudFront origins must be publicly routable or explicitly configured as VPC origins using an origin access control (OAC) or VPC origin feature. An internal ALB has only RFC 1918 private IP addresses, which are not routable from the CloudFront edge network. To resolve this, you can either make the ALB internet-facing or use AWS PrivateLink with a Network Load Balancer (NLB) as an intermediary to expose the internal ALB to CloudFront.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
  • Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
  • Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

  • Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
  • Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DVA-C02 question test?

Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The ALB is not internet-facing, so CloudFront cannot reach it. — The ALB is configured as an internal load balancer, meaning it only has private IP addresses and is accessible only within the VPC. CloudFront, being an AWS edge service outside the VPC, cannot route traffic to a private IP address without additional configuration such as a VPC origin or a public-facing ALB. This results in HTTP 502 errors because CloudFront cannot establish a connection to the origin.

What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026

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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.