Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A service reads encrypted data from Amazon S3. The S3 objects use a customer-managed CMK. The IAM role used by the service has kms:Decrypt in its identity policy, but decryption fails with a KMS error stating the role is not authorized to perform kms:CreateGrant. The CMK’s key policy allows kms:Decrypt for the role but does not include kms:CreateGrant. What is the most appropriate change to resolve the failure while preserving least privilege?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Add kms:CreateGrant permission to the CMK key policy for the role (scoped to the necessary CMK), keeping other KMS permissions minimal.
The error explicitly indicates missing authorization to create grants (kms:CreateGrant). Some AWS services require creating a grant to use a key on behalf of a principal. Adding only kms:CreateGrant to the key policy for the specific role resolves the failure with minimal additional access.
B
Distractor review
Enable key rotation because it makes grant creation unnecessary.
Key rotation affects key lifecycle management, not whether the principal is authorized to call kms:CreateGrant. The access failure is authorization-related, not rotation-related.
C
Distractor review
Add kms:DescribeKey to the key policy and remove kms:Decrypt to reduce permissions.
DescribeKey allows viewing key metadata but does not grant decryption capability. The failure is about CreateGrant authorization, and removing kms:Decrypt would break the decrypt path.
D
Distractor review
Update the IAM role to use kms:ScheduleKeyDeletion so future decrypt attempts succeed.
Scheduling key deletion is unrelated to grant creation and would not fix kms:CreateGrant authorization. It would also introduce serious availability/compliance risk.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: authentication is not authorization
Logging in proves the user can authenticate. It does not automatically mean the user is allowed to enter privileged or configuration mode. Watch for AAA authorization, privilege level and command authorization details.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This kind of question is testing the difference between identity and permission. A user may successfully log in to a router because authentication is working, but still fail to enter configuration mode because authorization is missing, misconfigured or mapped to a lower privilege level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Authentication checks who the user is.
- Authorization controls what the user is allowed to do after login.
- Privilege levels affect access to EXEC and configuration commands.
- AAA, TACACS+ and RADIUS can separate login success from command access.
TExam Day Tips
- Do not assume successful login means full administrative access.
- Look for words such as cannot enter configuration mode, privilege level, authorization or command access.
- Separate login problems from permission problems before choosing the answer.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A team needs to distribute TCP traffic (not HTTP) across multiple services. The services must see the original client source IP for auditing. Which AWS load balancer is the best fit?
Question 2
A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?
Question 3
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a IoT ingestion API. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Question 4
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a claims portal. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
Question 5
A team wants to delegate IAM management to developers, but must ensure developers can never grant themselves permissions beyond a specific limit. Which AWS mechanism best matches this requirement?
Question 6
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a healthcare document service. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Authentication checks who the user is.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add kms:CreateGrant permission to the CMK key policy for the role (scoped to the necessary CMK), keeping other KMS permissions minimal. — The KMS error message indicates the principal lacks kms:CreateGrant authorization. Even when kms:Decrypt is permitted, some services also need to create KMS grants to use the key for the decrypt operation. The least-privilege fix is to update the CMK key policy to allow kms:CreateGrant for the same role (and apply any applicable conditions/constraints), rather than granting unrelated KMS actions. Option B changes key settings but does not grant the missing CreateGrant permission. Option C replaces decrypt-related permissions with metadata permissions and does not address the required CreateGrant action. Option D adds an unrelated destructive permission and still does not grant CreateGrant.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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