SAP-C02 S3 Bucket Policy Practice Question

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"
      },
      "Action": "s3:*",
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket",
        "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

A company has an S3 bucket policy as shown in the exhibit. The bucket 'my-bucket' is owned by account 111111111111. What access does this policy grant to account 123456789012?

⚠ Common exam trap

A common misconception is that the root user ARN only grants access to the root user. In reality, in resource-based policies like S3 bucket policies, the root user ARN represents all IAM principals in the account.

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

✓

Full S3 access to the bucket and objects for all IAM users in account 123456789012.

In AWS S3 bucket policies, specifying the root user ARN `arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root` as the principal grants access to all IAM users and roles in that account, not just the root user. The root user ARN is a shorthand for the entire account. Therefore, the policy grants full S3 access to all IAM users in account 123456789012, making option B correct.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
Full S3 access to the bucket and objects for the root user of account 123456789012.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The root user ARN does not grant access only to the root user; it grants access to all IAM users in the account.
✓
Full S3 access to the bucket and objects for all IAM users in account 123456789012.
Why this is correct
Correct. The root user ARN in an S3 bucket policy grants access to all IAM users in the account.
✗
No access because the root user is not allowed.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The root user is allowed via the root user ARN, but it also grants access to IAM users.
✗
Read-only access to the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The policy grants full S3 access, not read-only.

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

Go deeper

SAP-C02 S3 Bucket Policy Practice Question

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question