This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A CloudFormation stack has been deployed with the VPCId and SubnetIds outputs. A developer wants to use these outputs as parameters in another CloudFormation stack. Which AWS service can be used to pass these values to the new stack?
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Why wrong: SNS is for notifications.
AWS Secrets Manager
Why wrong: Secrets Manager is for secrets, not outputs.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why wrong: Not the native way; cross-stack references are better.
CloudFormation cross-stack references using Export and ImportValue
Exports allow passing outputs to other stacks.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
CloudFormation cross-stack references using Export and ImportValue
CloudFormation cross-stack references using the `Export` output attribute and the `Fn::ImportValue` intrinsic function allow you to pass output values from one stack as parameters to another stack within the same AWS account and region. This is the native, recommended mechanism for sharing stack outputs without introducing external services or additional complexity.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Why it's wrong here
SNS is for notifications.
AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager is for secrets, not outputs.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why it's wrong here
Not the native way; cross-stack references are better.
CloudFormation cross-stack references using Export and ImportValue
Why this is correct
Exports allow passing outputs to other stacks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse Parameter Store (a general-purpose parameter store) with CloudFormation's native cross-stack reference feature, overlooking that the question explicitly asks for passing outputs between CloudFormation stacks, which is directly solved by `Export` and `ImportValue`.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
Secrets Manager is for secrets, not outputs.
Detailed technical explanation
When you export a stack output, CloudFormation creates a unique export name scoped to the account and region (e.g., `MyVPCStack-VPCId`). The `Fn::ImportValue` function resolves the export at deployment time, ensuring that the imported value is available only if the exporting stack exists and is not in a `DELETE_IN_PROGRESS` state. A subtle behavior is that you cannot delete a stack whose outputs are currently imported by another stack until the importing stack is deleted or the export is removed, preventing accidental dependency breakage.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
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What to study next
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FAQ
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: CloudFormation cross-stack references using Export and ImportValue — CloudFormation cross-stack references using the `Export` output attribute and the `Fn::ImportValue` intrinsic function allow you to pass output values from one stack as parameters to another stack within the same AWS account and region. This is the native, recommended mechanism for sharing stack outputs without introducing external services or additional complexity.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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