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 attached to a user allows creating and deleting VPCs and subnets only in us-east-1. The user attempts to create a VPC in eu-west-1. What will happen?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The API call will be denied with an authorization error.
The IAM policy explicitly restricts the ec2:CreateVpc action to us-east-1 using a Condition element with ec2:Region. When the user attempts to create a VPC in eu-west-1, the condition is not satisfied, so the request is denied with an authorization error (HTTP 403). IAM policies are evaluated before any API call is executed, and if the condition fails, the action is blocked regardless of the resource-level permissions.
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 API call will be denied with an authorization error.
Why this is correct
The condition fails, so IAM denies the action.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The VPC will be created but the user will receive a warning.
Why it's wrong here
IAM denies if condition not met; no warning.
✗
The user can create the VPC because the condition is not applicable to VPC creation.
Why it's wrong here
The condition applies to all actions in the statement.
✗
The VPC will be created successfully because the policy allows ec2:CreateVpc.
Why it's wrong here
The condition restricts to us-east-1, so creation in eu-west-1 is denied.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume a policy that allows ec2:CreateVpc without a resource restriction will permit VPC creation in any region, but they overlook the Condition element that scopes the permission to a specific region, causing them to pick Option D.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAM policy evaluation uses an explicit deny by default when a condition fails, meaning the request is denied even if an Allow statement exists. The ec2:Region condition key is a global condition key that matches the AWS region endpoint used in the API call. In real-world scenarios, this is commonly used to enforce regional compliance, such as restricting VPC creation to specific regions for data sovereignty or cost control.
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.
Visual reference
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 API call will be denied with an authorization error. — The IAM policy explicitly restricts the ec2:CreateVpc action to us-east-1 using a Condition element with ec2:Region. When the user attempts to create a VPC in eu-west-1, the condition is not satisfied, so the request is denied with an authorization error (HTTP 403). IAM policies are evaluated before any API call is executed, and if the condition fails, the action is blocked regardless of the resource-level permissions.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This ANS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ANS-C01 exam.
Question Discussion
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