- A
Add an SCP that grants the role additional permissions for KMS usage.
Why wrong: Service control policies cannot grant permissions. SCPs only set the maximum permissions that identities in an account or OU can use; they never add allow permissions.
- B
Add kms:Decrypt permission in the role's IAM policy for the KMS key.
The caller needs an identity-based permission that allows kms:Decrypt on the specific CMK used to encrypt the S3 object. Without that allow statement, KMS denies the decrypt request even if S3 access is permitted.
- C
Update the KMS key policy in Account A to allow the role from Account B to use Decrypt.
For cross-account SSE-KMS access, the CMK policy in the owning account must trust the external principal or an authorized account path. KMS evaluates both the identity policy and the key policy, so both must allow the operation.
- D
Grant the role read access with an S3 bucket ACL.
Why wrong: An ACL can affect S3 object authorization, but it does not grant permission to use the KMS key. The failure is at the decrypt step, so changing the ACL alone does not resolve the access denied error.
- E
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the bucket.
Why wrong: Transfer Acceleration only changes the network path for object transfers. It does not change IAM or KMS authorization and therefore cannot fix a missing decrypt permission.
SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design secure architectures. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 application in Account B reads objects from an Amazon S3 bucket in Account A. The bucket uses SSE-KMS with a customer managed key in Account A. The role in Account B already has s3:GetObject, but downloads fail with AccessDenied on decrypt. Which two changes are required for the role to read the object successfully? Select two.
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
Add kms:Decrypt permission in the role's IAM policy for the KMS key.
Option B is correct because the role in Account B needs explicit kms:Decrypt permission in its IAM policy to use the KMS key for decrypting the S3 objects. Option C is correct because the KMS key policy in Account A must grant the role from Account B permission to call kms:Decrypt, as the key is customer managed and cross-account access requires both the key policy and the IAM policy to allow the action.
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.
- ✗
Add an SCP that grants the role additional permissions for KMS usage.
Why it's wrong here
Service control policies cannot grant permissions. SCPs only set the maximum permissions that identities in an account or OU can use; they never add allow permissions.
- ✓
Add kms:Decrypt permission in the role's IAM policy for the KMS key.
Why this is correct
The caller needs an identity-based permission that allows kms:Decrypt on the specific CMK used to encrypt the S3 object. Without that allow statement, KMS denies the decrypt request even if S3 access is permitted.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Update the KMS key policy in Account A to allow the role from Account B to use Decrypt.
Why this is correct
For cross-account SSE-KMS access, the CMK policy in the owning account must trust the external principal or an authorized account path. KMS evaluates both the identity policy and the key policy, so both must allow the operation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Grant the role read access with an S3 bucket ACL.
Why it's wrong here
An ACL can affect S3 object authorization, but it does not grant permission to use the KMS key. The failure is at the decrypt step, so changing the ACL alone does not resolve the access denied error.
- ✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration only changes the network path for object transfers. It does not change IAM or KMS authorization and therefore cannot fix a missing decrypt permission.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often think only the IAM policy (Option B) is needed, forgetting that cross-account KMS access requires the key policy (Option C) to explicitly grant the external role decrypt permission, as IAM policies alone are insufficient for resource-based policies like KMS key policies.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When SSE-KMS is used, S3 calls KMS to decrypt the object key (data key) before returning the object. For cross-account access, the KMS key policy must explicitly allow the external IAM role to call kms:Decrypt, and the role must have the corresponding IAM permission. Without both, the decrypt call fails with AccessDenied even if s3:GetObject is allowed. The key policy acts as a resource-based policy that must trust the external principal.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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.
- →
Design Secure Architectures — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Design Secure Architectures practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All SAA-C03 questions
1,040 questions across all exam domains
- →
SAA-C03 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
SAA-C03 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related SAA-C03 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Design Secure Architectures practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Secure Architectures.
Design Resilient Architectures practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Resilient Architectures.
Design High-Performing Architectures practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design High-Performing Architectures.
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Cost-Optimized Architectures.
SAA-C03 VPC practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Start a free SAA-C03 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Design Secure Architectures — This question tests Design Secure Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add kms:Decrypt permission in the role's IAM policy for the KMS key. — Option B is correct because the role in Account B needs explicit kms:Decrypt permission in its IAM policy to use the KMS key for decrypting the S3 objects. Option C is correct because the KMS key policy in Account A must grant the role from Account B permission to call kms:Decrypt, as the key is customer managed and cross-account access requires both the key policy and the IAM policy to allow the action.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
More SAA-C03 practice questions
- A content publishing system uses Lambda functions that call an unreliable third-party API. Failed events must be retaine…
- A startup runs two EC2-based workloads in the same AWS Region. Its customer-facing API is always on, and its nightly vid…
- A warehouse integration service must use shared file storage across Linux EC2 instances in multiple Availability Zones.…
- A team runs a stateless web app on Amazon EC2 behind an Application Load Balancer. During traffic spikes, new EC2 instan…
- A service in private subnets downloads product images from Amazon S3 and stores job state in DynamoDB. A NAT Gateway is…
- A static site is hosted in Amazon S3 and delivered by CloudFront. After a frontend release, the same JavaScript bundles…
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.