The answer is to create an IAM role in the development account with a trust policy that allows the developers' accounts to assume it. This is the secure, scalable method for cross-account IAM role access because the trust policy explicitly defines which external AWS accounts are permitted to assume the role, while the role’s permissions policy controls what actions can be taken in the development environment. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this pattern tests your understanding of the principle of least privilege and the delegation of access without sharing long-term credentials. A common trap is confusing resource-based policies with trust policies, or assuming that SCPs can grant access—they can only deny it. Remember the mnemonic: “Trust the account, permit the role” to keep the two policy types distinct.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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.
A company wants to provide its developers with access to a shared development environment in AWS. The developers are in different AWS accounts, and they need to assume an IAM role in the development account. What is the secure way to allow cross-account access?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an IAM role in the development account with a trust policy that allows the developers' accounts to assume it
Option C is correct because the standard cross-account access pattern uses IAM roles with trust policies. Option A is wrong because IAM users are per-account and not scalable. Option B is wrong because access keys are not secure for cross-account access. Option D is wrong because SCPs are for restrictions, not granting access.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use a service control policy to allow access from other accounts
Why it's wrong here
SCPs do not grant access; they restrict permissions.
✗
Create IAM users in the development account for each developer
Why it's wrong here
This requires managing users across accounts and is not scalable.
✗
Share the access keys of an IAM user in the development account
Why it's wrong here
Sharing access keys is a security risk.
✓
Create an IAM role in the development account with a trust policy that allows the developers' accounts to assume it
Why this is correct
This follows AWS best practices for cross-account access.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
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.
Detailed technical explanation
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.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an IAM role in the development account with a trust policy that allows the developers' accounts to assume it — Option C is correct because the standard cross-account access pattern uses IAM roles with trust policies. Option A is wrong because IAM users are per-account and not scalable. Option B is wrong because access keys are not secure for cross-account access. Option D is wrong because SCPs are for restrictions, not granting access.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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