- A
Use the Lambda function's execution role to grant full administrative access to DynamoDB.
Why wrong: Granting full administrative access violates the principle of least privilege.
- B
Store the AWS access key and secret access key as environment variables in the Lambda function.
Why wrong: Storing credentials in environment variables is insecure and not recommended.
- C
Assign an IAM role to the Lambda function with a policy that grants the required DynamoDB permissions.
Using an IAM role is the secure and recommended way to grant permissions to AWS services.
- D
Create an IAM user with DynamoDB access and use its credentials in the Lambda function.
Why wrong: IAM users are intended for human users; using them for services is not a best practice.
Question 1,316 of 1,616
Lambda IAM Execution Role for DynamoDB
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. 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 is using AWS Lambda to process messages from an Amazon SQS queue. The function needs to access an Amazon DynamoDB table. What is the MOST secure way to grant the Lambda function access to DynamoDB?
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
✓
Assign an IAM role to the Lambda function with a policy that grants the required DynamoDB permissions.
Option C is correct because AWS Lambda uses an IAM execution role to securely obtain temporary credentials via the AWS Security Token Service (STS). By attaching a policy that grants only the required DynamoDB actions (e.g., GetItem, PutItem) on specific tables, you follow the principle of least privilege. This avoids hardcoding long-term credentials and eliminates the risk of credential exposure.
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.
- ✗
Use the Lambda function's execution role to grant full administrative access to DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
Granting full administrative access violates the principle of least privilege.
- ✗
Store the AWS access key and secret access key as environment variables in the Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
Storing credentials in environment variables is insecure and not recommended.
- ✓
Assign an IAM role to the Lambda function with a policy that grants the required DynamoDB permissions.
Why this is correct
Using an IAM role is the secure and recommended way to grant permissions to AWS services.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create an IAM user with DynamoDB access and use its credentials in the Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
IAM users are intended for human users; using them for services is not a best practice.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think storing credentials as environment variables is acceptable for simplicity, but the exam emphasizes that IAM roles with least-privilege policies are the most secure and AWS-recommended approach for granting permissions to AWS services like Lambda.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Lambda execution role's trust policy allows the lambda.amazonaws.com service principal to assume the role. The Lambda runtime automatically calls STS AssumeRole to obtain temporary credentials, which are then used to sign DynamoDB API requests via the AWS SDK. This mechanism ensures credentials are rotated every few hours and never stored in the function code or environment. In a real-world scenario, if the function needs to access DynamoDB in a different account, you would use cross-account IAM roles with proper trust policies rather than hardcoding keys.
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 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.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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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: Assign an IAM role to the Lambda function with a policy that grants the required DynamoDB permissions. — Option C is correct because AWS Lambda uses an IAM execution role to securely obtain temporary credentials via the AWS Security Token Service (STS). By attaching a policy that grants only the required DynamoDB actions (e.g., GetItem, PutItem) on specific tables, you follow the principle of least privilege. This avoids hardcoding long-term credentials and eliminates the risk of credential exposure.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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