MLA-C01 Practice Question: ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance and Security
This MLA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of ml solution monitoring, maintenance and security. 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.
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?
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-...)
A
Change the model artifact encryption to SSE-S3.
Why wrong: Changing encryption would require re-uploading the artifact.
B
Add kms:Decrypt permission to the SageMaker execution role for the KMS key.
This directly addresses the missing permission.
C
Re-upload the model artifact without encryption.
Why wrong: That would disable encryption, which may not be acceptable.
D
Attach the AWS managed policy 'AmazonSageMakerFullAccess' to the role.
Why wrong: That policy may not include the necessary KMS permissions.
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.
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.
✗
Change the model artifact encryption to SSE-S3.
Why it's wrong here
Changing encryption would require re-uploading the artifact.
✓
Add kms:Decrypt permission to the SageMaker execution role for the KMS key.
Why this is correct
This directly addresses the missing permission.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Re-upload the model artifact without encryption.
Why it's wrong here
That would disable encryption, which may not be acceptable.
✗
Attach the AWS managed policy 'AmazonSageMakerFullAccess' to the role.
Why it's wrong here
That policy may not include the necessary KMS permissions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
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.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, when SageMaker accesses an S3 object encrypted with SSE-KMS, it must call the KMS Decrypt API with the correct key identifier. The execution role's IAM policy must include kms:Decrypt on the specific KMS key ARN (or use a condition key like kms:ViaService). A common real-world scenario is when a data scientist uses a shared KMS key across multiple accounts; the role must also have kms:Decrypt permission from the key's key policy if the key is in a different account.
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.
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
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.
ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance and Security — This question tests ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance and Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: 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.
What should I do if I get this MLA-C01 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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