MLS-C01 Practice Question: Machine Learning Implementation and Operations
An ML engineer is deploying a model on a SageMaker endpoint and wants to ensure that only authorized users and services can invoke the endpoint. The company uses AWS IAM for access control and requires that the endpoint be invoked only from within a specific VPC. What combination of actions should the engineer take? (Choose the single best answer.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse network-level controls (NACLs, security groups) with service-level access control (IAM and VPC endpoints), or assume that API Gateway is required to restrict VPC access, when SageMaker's native VPC endpoint with IAM policies directly satisfies the requirement without additional services.
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
✓
Create a VPC endpoint for Amazon SageMaker and attach a policy that only allows invocation from the VPC. Use IAM roles to restrict which users can invoke the endpoint.
It combines a VPC endpoint for SageMaker with an IAM policy to restrict invocation to authorized users and traffic originating from the specified VPC. A VPC endpoint (interface endpoint) uses AWS PrivateLink to allow private connectivity between the VPC and SageMaker without traversing the public internet, and attaching a resource-based policy to the endpoint ensures only requests from within the VPC are accepted. IAM roles then enforce user-level authorization, meeting both the VPC-only and IAM access control requirements.
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 AWS CloudFront to restrict access based on IP addresses.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront is for content delivery, not for SageMaker endpoint invocation.
- ✗
Use API Gateway in front of the SageMaker endpoint and attach a resource policy to API Gateway.
Why it's wrong here
API Gateway adds latency and complexity; not the simplest solution.
- ✓
Create a VPC endpoint for Amazon SageMaker and attach a policy that only allows invocation from the VPC. Use IAM roles to restrict which users can invoke the endpoint.
Why this is correct
VPC endpoint with policy ensures only traffic from the VPC can reach SageMaker API, and IAM controls user permissions.
- ✗
Configure network ACLs on the VPC subnet to allow only the endpoint's security group.
Why it's wrong here
Network ACLs control traffic at subnet level but do not authenticate users.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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