This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. 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.
An IAM policy is attached to a user who needs to manage VPC peering connections. The policy allows creating and accepting peering connections, but the user reports they cannot add routes to the route table of their VPC (vpc-11111111) for the peered connection. 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 condition in the policy restricts the VPC, but the route table is not associated with that VPC.
Option A is correct because the IAM policy includes a condition that restricts the VPC (e.g., `ec2:Vpc` condition key set to `vpc-11111111`), but the route table the user is trying to modify is not associated with that VPC. Even though the user has permissions to create and accept peering connections, the condition on the route table modification action (like `ec2:CreateRoute`) limits the operation to route tables belonging to the specified VPC. Since the route table belongs to a different VPC or is not associated with `vpc-11111111`, the request fails.
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 condition in the policy restricts the VPC, but the route table is not associated with that VPC.
Why this is correct
Condition limits to specific VPC ARN, but route table may have different ARN.
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.
✗
The user does not have permission to create routes.
Why it's wrong here
Action is allowed.
✗
The user needs additional permissions for the peering connection.
Why it's wrong here
Peering permissions are already granted.
✗
The user needs to accept the peering connection first.
Why it's wrong here
Not related.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the misconception that route table modifications are solely governed by the `ec2:CreateRoute` action, ignoring that IAM conditions like `ec2:Vpc` can restrict the operation based on the route table's associated VPC, leading candidates to incorrectly choose Option B.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, AWS IAM policies for VPC peering often use the `ec2:Vpc` condition key to restrict actions to specific VPCs, but this condition applies only to resources that have a VPC attribute, such as route tables, subnets, and security groups. When a user tries to add a route to a route table that is not associated with the specified VPC, the condition fails even if the user has `ec2:CreateRoute` permission. In real-world scenarios, this commonly occurs when an organization uses a centralized VPC management account with strict resource-level conditions, and the route table belongs to a different VPC or is a custom route table not linked to the peered VPC.
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 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The condition in the policy restricts the VPC, but the route table is not associated with that VPC. — Option A is correct because the IAM policy includes a condition that restricts the VPC (e.g., `ec2:Vpc` condition key set to `vpc-11111111`), but the route table the user is trying to modify is not associated with that VPC. Even though the user has permissions to create and accept peering connections, the condition on the route table modification action (like `ec2:CreateRoute`) limits the operation to route tables belonging to the specified VPC. Since the route table belongs to a different VPC or is not associated with `vpc-11111111`, the request fails.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 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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Question Discussion
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