The answer is that the trust policy of the IAM role in the target account does not grant permissions to the administrator account. When troubleshooting StackSets self-managed permissions, the core requirement is a properly configured trust relationship where the target account’s execution role explicitly trusts the administrator account’s IAM role to assume it. Without this cross-account trust, CloudFormation receives an 'Access Denied' error even if the roles themselves exist, because the service cannot delegate resource creation. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the self-managed permissions model, which demands manual IAM role setup between accounts—a common trap where engineers verify role existence but overlook the trust policy. A reliable memory tip is "trust before action": for self-managed StackSets, the target account must first trust the administrator before any stack operation can proceed.
DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of configuration management and iac. 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 uses AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy a VPC with subnets across multiple accounts and regions. Recently, a new account was added to the organization, and the DevOps team wants to deploy the stack set to this new account without affecting existing stacks. The stack set has self-managed permissions. The engineer creates a new stack instance for the account and region, but the operation fails with an 'Access Denied' error when CloudFormation tries to create resources in the new account. The engineer has verified that the stack set's IAM roles exist in the new account. 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 the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The trust policy of the IAM role in the target account does not grant permissions to the administrator account.
Option A is correct because self-managed permissions require a trust relationship between the administrator and target accounts. Option B is wrong because the roles exist. Option C is wrong because the stack set is already deployed to other accounts, so template is valid. Option D is wrong because service limits would give a different error.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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 stack set template contains a resource that is not supported in the target region.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause a different error, not Access Denied.
✓
The trust policy of the IAM role in the target account does not grant permissions to the administrator account.
Why this is correct
The target account's role must trust the administrator account to assume it.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
The target account has reached a service limit for VPCs.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause a limit exceeded error, not Access Denied.
✗
The IAM roles in the target account are not named correctly.
Why it's wrong here
The engineer verified the roles exist, so naming is correct.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DOP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Configuration Management and IaC — This question tests Configuration Management and IaC — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The trust policy of the IAM role in the target account does not grant permissions to the administrator account. — Option A is correct because self-managed permissions require a trust relationship between the administrator and target accounts. Option B is wrong because the roles exist. Option C is wrong because the stack set is already deployed to other accounts, so template is valid. Option D is wrong because service limits would give a different error.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DOP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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