SAA-C03 Practice Question: AWS WAF operates at Layer 7 (application layer).
A web application for a healthcare document service is behind an Application Load Balancer. The application must be protected from common SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks with minimum operational overhead. What should the architect deploy? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse network-layer security controls (security groups, network ACLs, or Shield) with application-layer protection, assuming they can block SQL injection or XSS, when in fact only a web application firewall like AWS WAF can inspect and filter HTTP payloads for such attacks.
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
✓
AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
AWS WAF is a web application firewall that integrates directly with an Application Load Balancer to filter and monitor HTTP/HTTPS requests. It provides managed rules specifically designed to block common attack patterns like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) without requiring custom scripts or manual rule maintenance, thus meeting the requirement for minimum operational overhead.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Security groups on the application instances
Why it's wrong here
Security groups filter ports and IPs but do not inspect HTTP payloads.
- ✓
AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
Why this is correct
AWS WAF can inspect HTTP requests and block common web exploits when associated with an ALB.
- ✗
Network ACLs on the public subnets
Why it's wrong here
Network ACLs are stateless subnet filters and cannot inspect application-layer attacks.
- ✗
AWS Shield Advanced only
Why it's wrong here
Shield Advanced helps with DDoS protection, not SQL injection or XSS inspection.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAA-C03 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 SAA-C03 exam.