The correct choice is AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer, as this combination directly protects an ALB from SQL injection and XSS with AWS WAF through managed rule sets that require no custom configuration. AWS WAF acts as a web application firewall, inspecting incoming HTTP/HTTPS requests at the edge and blocking malicious payloads before they reach the backend application, which is precisely the low-overhead solution the scenario demands. On the SAA-C03 exam, this question tests your understanding of where to apply WAF—it integrates natively with ALB, CloudFront, and API Gateway, but the trap is confusing it with security groups or network ACLs, which operate at the transport layer and cannot inspect application-layer attacks. Remember the mnemonic “WAF for the Web, SG for the Net”—WAF handles SQLi and XSS at layer 7, while security groups handle IP/port filtering at layer 3/4.
SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design secure architectures. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
A web application for a claims portal 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?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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) with minimal operational overhead, as the rules are pre-configured and automatically updated by AWS.
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.
✓
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.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Shield Advanced only
Why it's wrong here
Shield Advanced helps with DDoS protection, not SQL injection or XSS inspection.
✗
Network ACLs on the public subnets
Why it's wrong here
Network ACLs are stateless subnet filters and cannot inspect application-layer attacks.
✗
Security groups on the application instances
Why it's wrong here
Security groups filter ports and IPs but do not inspect HTTP payloads.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse network-layer controls (like security groups or NACLs) with application-layer protection, assuming they can block SQL injection or XSS, but these operate at Layer 3/4 and cannot inspect HTTP request bodies or headers for malicious content.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS WAF uses a rule-based engine that evaluates incoming HTTP/HTTPS requests against conditions such as SQL-like patterns (e.g., 'OR 1=1') or script tags (e.g., '<script>'). The managed rule group 'AWS-AWSManagedRulesCommonRuleSet' includes pre-built rules for SQL injection and XSS, and updates automatically as new attack vectors emerge. When associated with an ALB, WAF inspects traffic before it reaches the backend instances, ensuring only clean requests are forwarded.
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.
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 — 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: 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) with minimal operational overhead, as the rules are pre-configured and automatically updated by AWS.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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 →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A web application for a IoT ingestion API 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.
medium
✓ A.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
B.Network ACLs on the public subnets
C.Security groups on the application instances
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why A: AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications from common web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). By associating an AWS WAF web ACL with the Application Load Balancer, you can filter and monitor HTTP(S) requests based on rules that match malicious patterns, with no custom scripts or operational overhead. This is the most efficient and managed solution for the stated requirements.
Variation 2. A web application for a IoT ingestion API 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?
medium
✓ A.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
B.Network ACLs on the public subnets
C.Security groups on the application instances
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why A: 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) with minimal operational overhead, as AWS manages the rule updates and scaling. This makes it the ideal choice for protecting the IoT ingestion API without requiring custom code or manual configuration.
Variation 3. A web application for a order processing API 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?
medium
A.Security groups on the application instances
B.Network ACLs on the public subnets
✓ C.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why C: AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications from common web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. By associating an AWS WAF web ACL with the Application Load Balancer, you can filter and monitor HTTP/HTTPS requests based on customizable rules, providing application-layer protection with minimal operational overhead since AWS manages the underlying infrastructure and rule updates.
Variation 4. A web application for a mobile banking backend 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?
medium
A.Security groups on the application instances
✓ B.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
C.Network ACLs on the public subnets
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why B: AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications from common web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). By associating an AWS WAF web ACL with the Application Load Balancer, you can filter and monitor HTTP(S) requests based on rules that block these attack patterns, all without managing any infrastructure. This provides the required protection with minimal operational overhead because AWS WAF is a fully managed service that integrates directly with ALB.
Variation 5. 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?
medium
A.Security groups on the application instances
✓ B.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
C.Network ACLs on the public subnets
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why B: AWS WAF is a web application firewall that can be associated with an Application Load Balancer to filter and monitor HTTP/HTTPS requests. It includes managed rule sets specifically designed to block common web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) with minimal operational overhead, as AWS manages the rule updates.
Variation 6. 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.
medium
A.Security groups on the application instances
✓ B.AWS WAF associated with the Application Load Balancer
C.Network ACLs on the public subnets
D.AWS Shield Advanced only
Why B: 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.
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