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SDLC Automation →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DOP-C02 SDLC Automation Practice Question

This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of sdlc automation. 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 CodePipeline with a cross-account action where the source account (Account A) triggers a deploy action in a target account (Account B). The pipeline is failing with an 'Access Denied' error when trying to assume the deployment role. 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.

A
The S3 artifact bucket in Account A does not have a bucket policy allowing Account B.
Why wrong: Bucket policy might be needed but the error is about assuming role.
B
The deployment role in Account B does not exist.
Why wrong: Missing role would give a different error.
C
The CloudFormation service role in Account B is missing.
Why wrong: CloudFormation role is for stack operations, not for pipeline actions.
D
The KMS key used to encrypt artifacts is not shared with Account B.
To decrypt artifacts, Account B needs decrypt permission on the KMS key.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 KMS key used to encrypt artifacts is not shared with Account B.

In a cross-account CodePipeline setup, if the source account (Account A) uses a KMS key to encrypt artifacts in the S3 bucket, the target account (Account B) must have access to that KMS key to decrypt the artifacts during the deploy action. Without the KMS key being shared via a cross-account key policy that grants the deployment role in Account B the `kms:Decrypt` permission, the pipeline fails with an 'Access Denied' error when attempting to assume the deployment role, because the role assumption process itself may require decrypting pipeline metadata or artifacts.

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 S3 artifact bucket in Account A does not have a bucket policy allowing Account B.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policy might be needed but the error is about assuming role.
✗
The deployment role in Account B does not exist.
Why it's wrong here
Missing role would give a different error.
✗
The CloudFormation service role in Account B is missing.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation role is for stack operations, not for pipeline actions.
✓
The KMS key used to encrypt artifacts is not shared with Account B.
Why this is correct
To decrypt artifacts, Account B needs decrypt permission on the KMS key.
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.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often assume the 'Access Denied' error is due to missing IAM permissions on the deployment role or a misconfigured bucket policy, overlooking the fact that KMS key permissions are required for cross-account artifact decryption even before the role assumption completes.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, when CodePipeline in Account A triggers a cross-account action, it uses the `AssumeRole` API to obtain temporary credentials for the deployment role in Account B. If the pipeline artifacts are encrypted with a customer-managed KMS key, the AWS STS service must decrypt the artifact metadata to validate the pipeline execution context; without the KMS key policy granting `kms:Decrypt` to the deployment role's ARN, the assume role call fails with an 'Access Denied' error. This is a common pitfall because the error message does not explicitly mention KMS, leading engineers to misdiagnose the issue as a missing role or bucket policy.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DOP-C02 question test?

SDLC Automation — This question tests SDLC Automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The KMS key used to encrypt artifacts is not shared with Account B. — In a cross-account CodePipeline setup, if the source account (Account A) uses a KMS key to encrypt artifacts in the S3 bucket, the target account (Account B) must have access to that KMS key to decrypt the artifacts during the deploy action. Without the KMS key being shared via a cross-account key policy that grants the deployment role in Account B the `kms:Decrypt` permission, the pipeline fails with an 'Access Denied' error when attempting to assume the deployment role, because the role assumption process itself may require decrypting pipeline metadata or artifacts.

What should I do if I get this DOP-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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