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 developer is troubleshooting an issue where an IAM user is unable to upload a file to an S3 bucket that uses server-side encryption with AWS KMS (SSE-KMS). The IAM policy shown in the exhibit is attached to the user. What is the likely cause of the failure?
The KMS key ARN in the resource statement is incorrect.
Why wrong: The key ARN appears valid; this is not the likely cause.
B
The user does not have s3:PutObject permission on the bucket.
Why wrong: The policy includes s3:PutObject, so this is not the issue.
C
The user does not have kms:Encrypt permission on the KMS key.
When using SSE-KMS, the s3:PutObject action requires kms:Encrypt (or kms:GenerateDataKey, which is included, but encrypt is needed for upload). Actually, for upload, kms:Encrypt is required; the policy only has kms:Decrypt and kms:GenerateDataKey, which are for download/read. So missing kms:Encrypt causes failure.
D
The user does not have access to the KMS key at all.
Why wrong: The user has some KMS permissions, but lacks the specific encrypt permission needed for upload.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The user does not have kms:Encrypt permission on the KMS key.
When an S3 bucket uses SSE-KMS, the IAM user must have both `s3:PutObject` permission on the bucket and `kms:Encrypt` permission on the specific KMS key used for encryption. The exhibit shows the IAM policy grants `s3:PutObject` on the bucket, but the user is missing the required `kms:Encrypt` action on the KMS key, which is why the upload fails.
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 KMS key ARN in the resource statement is incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
The key ARN appears valid; this is not the likely cause.
✗
The user does not have s3:PutObject permission on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The policy includes s3:PutObject, so this is not the issue.
✓
The user does not have kms:Encrypt permission on the KMS key.
Why this is correct
When using SSE-KMS, the s3:PutObject action requires kms:Encrypt (or kms:GenerateDataKey, which is included, but encrypt is needed for upload). Actually, for upload, kms:Encrypt is required; the policy only has kms:Decrypt and kms:GenerateDataKey, which are for download/read. So missing kms:Encrypt causes failure.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The user does not have access to the KMS key at all.
Why it's wrong here
The user has some KMS permissions, but lacks the specific encrypt permission needed for upload.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume S3 permissions alone are sufficient for SSE-KMS, forgetting that KMS requires separate encryption permissions, leading them to incorrectly choose Option B or D.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, when S3 receives a PUT request with SSE-KMS, it calls KMS to encrypt the object using the specified KMS key. The IAM policy must include `kms:Encrypt` (and optionally `kms:GenerateDataKey`) on the key resource, and the KMS key policy must also allow the user. A common real-world scenario is when a developer grants full S3 access but forgets the KMS permissions, leading to cryptic 'Access Denied' errors even though the S3 policy looks correct.
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.
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
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.
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 user does not have kms:Encrypt permission on the KMS key. — When an S3 bucket uses SSE-KMS, the IAM user must have both `s3:PutObject` permission on the bucket and `kms:Encrypt` permission on the specific KMS key used for encryption. The exhibit shows the IAM policy grants `s3:PutObject` on the bucket, but the user is missing the required `kms:Encrypt` action on the KMS key, which is why the upload fails.
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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