Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Company A (account 1111) hosts an IAM role (RoleInAccountA) that is assumed by a workload in Company B (account 2222) using sts:AssumeRole. Security requires that only Company B’s intended workload can assume the role, even if another principal in account 2222 tries to assume it. The trust policy already restricts who can assume the role to account 2222. What additional trust policy condition most directly satisfies this requirement?
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 a condition requiring sts:ExternalId to equal a specific value that Company B’s workload must provide in sts:AssumeRole.
An ExternalId acts as a shared secret known only to the intended workload (or integration). Adding a sts:ExternalId condition causes sts:AssumeRole to fail for any other principals in account 2222 that do not supply the correct ExternalId, directly mitigating confused-deputy scenarios.
B
Distractor review
Add a condition requiring aws:PrincipalArn to start with arn:aws:iam::2222:role/.
A PrincipalArn prefix pattern may still match multiple roles or principals in account 2222. It does not provide a workload-specific secret/secret-like value, so other roles in account 2222 could still assume the role successfully if they match the pattern.
C
Distractor review
Add a condition requiring sts:RoleSessionName to match the string "integration".
RoleSessionName is controlled by the caller at AssumeRole time. An attacker can set RoleSessionName to the expected value, so it is not a reliable workload identifier.
D
Distractor review
Rely only on an SCP in account 1111 to block all sts:AssumeRole calls except from Company B’s OU.
SCPs are organization-level guardrails but are not a workload-specific control inside the IAM role trust policy evaluation. They do not address the confused-deputy problem in the way ExternalId does, and they are broader than the requirement’s “only the intended workload” constraint.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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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
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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?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add a condition requiring sts:ExternalId to equal a specific value that Company B’s workload must provide in sts:AssumeRole. — Add an sts:ExternalId condition to the role trust policy. ExternalId is provided at sts:AssumeRole time and is evaluated by the trust policy, so only the intended Company B workload that knows the correct ExternalId can successfully assume the role. Other principals in account 2222 may still be in the allowed principal set, but they will fail without the correct ExternalId. PrincipalArn patterns are not workload-specific enough and can still match other roles in account 2222. RoleSessionName is caller-controlled and can be spoofed. SCPs are broader governance mechanisms and do not provide the direct workload-specific secret-based enforcement provided by ExternalId in the trust evaluation.
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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