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 company needs to grant another AWS account read-only access to an S3 bucket. The developer wants to use a bucket policy without requiring IAM users in the trusted account. Which resource-based policy statement should the developer add to the bucket?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A principal of 'arn:aws:iam::OTHER-ACCOUNT-ID:root' with s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket.
Option D is correct because it uses the root user ARN of the trusted account as the principal, which effectively grants permissions to all IAM users and roles in that account. The s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket actions provide the required read-only access. This approach allows cross-account access without needing to create IAM users in the trusted account, as the bucket policy is a resource-based policy that directly authorizes the principal.
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.
✗
A principal of the root user of the other account with s3:GetObject.
Why it's wrong here
The root user is not a principal that can be specified directly; you must use the root user ARN.
✗
A principal of any user with a condition for the account ID.
Why it's wrong here
Using a condition with the account ID is possible but not as straightforward as specifying the root ARN.
✗
A principal of the other account's root ARN with s3:ListBucket and s3:GetObject.
Why it's wrong here
This is correct in intent but missing the required 'Principal' element; the root ARN is the correct principal.
✓
A principal of 'arn:aws:iam::OTHER-ACCOUNT-ID:root' with s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket.
Why this is correct
Correct. This grants the entire account read-only access to the bucket.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the principal format for cross-account access, mistakenly using an IAM user ARN or a full root ARN with 'root' as the resource, when the correct approach is to use the account ID or the root user ARN as the principal to grant access to all identities in the trusted account.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In S3 bucket policies, the Principal element can be an AWS account ID (e.g., 'AWS': '123456789012') or the root user ARN (e.g., 'AWS': 'arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root'). Using the account ID grants access to all IAM users and roles in that account, while the root user ARN specifically refers to the account root user. The s3:ListBucket action is required for operations like listing objects, and s3:GetObject is needed for reading object content; both are necessary for typical read-only access scenarios such as using the AWS Management Console or CLI to browse and download files.
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.
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A principal of 'arn:aws:iam::OTHER-ACCOUNT-ID:root' with s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket. — Option D is correct because it uses the root user ARN of the trusted account as the principal, which effectively grants permissions to all IAM users and roles in that account. The s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket actions provide the required read-only access. This approach allows cross-account access without needing to create IAM users in the trusted account, as the bucket policy is a resource-based policy that directly authorizes the principal.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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