- A
A role in the dev account with permissions to access production resources.
Why wrong: The role must be in the target account.
- B
An IAM user in the production account with permissions to switch roles.
Why wrong: Roles are assumed, not users.
- C
A role in the production account with a trust policy allowing the dev account, and an IAM policy in the dev account allowing sts:AssumeRole.
This is the standard cross-account role access setup.
- D
An SCP that allows sts:AssumeRole from the dev account.
Why wrong: SCPs are not for granting cross-account access.
Question 939 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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 company wants to allow developers to assume a role in a production account from their development account using AWS IAM. What is needed for this cross-account access?
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
✓
A role in the production account with a trust policy allowing the dev account, and an IAM policy in the dev account allowing sts:AssumeRole.
Option C is correct because cross-account IAM role access requires a role in the target (production) account with a trust policy that explicitly lists the source (development) account as a trusted principal, and an IAM policy in the source account that grants the sts:AssumeRole action for that role's ARN. This two-part configuration establishes a secure delegation path where the dev account's users or roles can request temporary credentials from the production account via the AWS Security Token Service (STS).
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.
- ✗
A role in the dev account with permissions to access production resources.
Why it's wrong here
The role must be in the target account.
- ✗
An IAM user in the production account with permissions to switch roles.
Why it's wrong here
Roles are assumed, not users.
- ✓
A role in the production account with a trust policy allowing the dev account, and an IAM policy in the dev account allowing sts:AssumeRole.
Why this is correct
This is the standard cross-account role access setup.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
An SCP that allows sts:AssumeRole from the dev account.
Why it's wrong here
SCPs are not for granting cross-account access.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the direction of the trust relationship, mistakenly thinking the role must be in the source account (dev) rather than the target account (production), or they overlook that both a trust policy and an IAM permissions policy are required for cross-account access.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the trust policy on the production role uses a Principal element with the dev account's AWS account ID (e.g., "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::DEV-ACCOUNT-ID:root"), and the dev account's IAM policy must specify the sts:AssumeRole action with the production role's ARN as the Resource. When a developer in the dev account calls sts:AssumeRole, AWS STS validates both policies: the dev account's IAM policy must allow the action, and the production role's trust policy must allow the dev account principal. A common nuance is that the trust policy can further restrict access by requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA) or a specific external ID to prevent the confused deputy problem.
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.
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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A role in the production account with a trust policy allowing the dev account, and an IAM policy in the dev account allowing sts:AssumeRole. — Option C is correct because cross-account IAM role access requires a role in the target (production) account with a trust policy that explicitly lists the source (development) account as a trusted principal, and an IAM policy in the source account that grants the sts:AssumeRole action for that role's ARN. This two-part configuration establishes a secure delegation path where the dev account's users or roles can request temporary credentials from the production account via the AWS Security Token Service (STS).
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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