MLA-C01 Practice Question: Refer to the exhibit

Exhibit

Error from SageMaker: ClientError: Cannot use encrypted model artifact. 
The SageMaker execution role (arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/SageMakerRole) 
must have kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key (arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/abcd1234-...)

Refer to the exhibit. A data scientist tries to deploy a model from an S3 bucket encrypted with SSE-KMS. What should the administrator do to resolve this?

⚠ Common exam trap

AWS often tests the misconception that attaching a broad managed policy like 'AmazonSageMakerFullAccess' is sufficient for all operations, but it does not grant KMS decrypt permissions for customer-managed keys, which must be explicitly added to the execution role.

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

✓

Add kms:Decrypt permission to the SageMaker execution role for the KMS key.

When a model artifact is stored in an S3 bucket encrypted with SSE-KMS, the SageMaker execution role must have the kms:Decrypt permission for the specific KMS key to allow SageMaker to decrypt the artifact during model deployment. Without this permission, the deployment fails because SageMaker cannot read the encrypted object. Option B correctly adds the required KMS permission to the execution role.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
Change the model artifact encryption to SSE-S3.
Why it's wrong here
Switching to SSE-S3 removes the KMS dependency but discards the customer managed key's access control and audit trail that the bucket's security posture requires. SSE-S3 suits buckets with no KMS governance mandate, not one already encrypted under SSE-KMS.
✓
Add kms:Decrypt permission to the SageMaker execution role for the KMS key.
Why this is correct
Granting kms:Decrypt on the customer managed key to the SageMaker execution role lets the service decrypt the SSE-KMS-protected model artefacts when downloading from S3. Without that permission, the role's S3 GetObject succeeds but the KMS call fails, so deployment aborts. This directly satisfies the stem's SSE-KMS encryption constraint.
✗
Re-upload the model artifact without encryption.
Why it's wrong here
Re-uploading without encryption strips protection from the model artifact entirely, breaching the encryption requirement rather than granting the role kms:Decrypt. Unencrypted artifacts suit only non-sensitive test data in isolated accounts, never production models under a KMS policy.
✗
Attach the AWS managed policy 'AmazonSageMakerFullAccess' to the role.
Why it's wrong here
AmazonSageMakerFullAccess grants broad SageMaker permissions but does not include kms:Decrypt on the customer managed key protecting the bucket, so the role still cannot read the artifact. It suits general SageMaker administration, not granting access to a specific KMS-encrypted object.

Visual reference

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

Go deeper

MLA-C01 Practice Question: Refer to the exhibit

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question