SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A Solutions Architect is reviewing an Amazon S3 bucket policy that grants access to users from another AWS account. The policy uses the Principal element with "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root". The users in the other account are unable to access the bucket. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The policy must specify the IAM user ARN, not the root user ARN.
The root user ARN does not grant access to individual IAM users; the policy must allow the entire account or specific user ARNs. Option B is wrong because the bucket policy can refer to another account. Option C is wrong because S3 does not require VPC endpoints for cross-account access. Option D is wrong because the bucket policy can use IAM user ARNs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The policy must specify the IAM user ARN, not the root user ARN.
Why this is correct
The root user ARN does not cover IAM users in that account.
- ✗
The bucket policy must also include a VPC endpoint condition.
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoints are not required.
- ✗
Cross-account access is not supported with bucket policies.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-account access is supported via bucket policies.
- ✗
The bucket policy must use the CanonicalUser ID instead of the account ID.
Why it's wrong here
CanonicalUser ID is not used for cross-account access.
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
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 exam.