SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
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 company has an S3 bucket policy that allows GetObject access from two IP ranges (10.0.0.0/16 and 192.168.0.0/16). The policy also denies all S3 actions on the 'confidential/' prefix unless the request comes from the 10.0.0.0/16 range. Which of the following statements is true?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Users from 10.0.0.0/16 can access objects in the confidential/ prefix, but users from 192.168.0.0/16 cannot.
The S3 bucket policy includes an explicit Deny statement that blocks all S3 actions on the 'confidential/' prefix unless the request originates from the 10.0.0.0/16 IP range. Since explicit Deny statements override any Allow statements in AWS IAM policy evaluation, users from 192.168.0.0/16 are denied access to the 'confidential/' prefix even though the GetObject Allow statement includes that range. Only users from 10.0.0.0/16 satisfy the condition in the Deny statement and can therefore access objects in the 'confidential/' prefix.
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.
✗
Users from 192.168.0.0/16 can access objects in the confidential/ prefix.
Why it's wrong here
The Deny statement denies access to confidential/ for IPs not in 10.0.0.0/16, so 192.168.0.0/16 is denied.
✓
Users from 10.0.0.0/16 can access objects in the confidential/ prefix, but users from 192.168.0.0/16 cannot.
Why this is correct
The Deny statement denies access to confidential/ for IPs not in 10.0.0.0/16, so only 10.0.0.0/16 is allowed.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Users from 10.0.0.0/16 cannot access objects in the confidential/ prefix.
Why it's wrong here
The Deny condition excludes 10.0.0.0/16, so they are allowed.
✗
The policy has no effect because the Allow and Deny statements cancel each other.
Why it's wrong here
Deny always overrides Allow, so the Deny applies.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume an Allow statement for a broader set of IPs will grant access to all prefixes, overlooking that an explicit Deny with a condition can carve out exceptions, and that AWS evaluates Deny statements before Allow statements.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS IAM policy evaluation follows a default-deny model where an explicit Deny always overrides any Allow. In this policy, the Deny statement uses a 'NotIpAddress' condition key with the 10.0.0.0/16 range, meaning the Deny applies to all IPs except that range. This is a common pattern to enforce IP-based restrictions on sensitive prefixes while still allowing broader access to other parts of the bucket. The S3 bucket policy is evaluated at the resource level, and the Deny statement's condition must be satisfied for the Deny to be applied; if the condition is not met (i.e., the request comes from 10.0.0.0/16), the Deny is not evaluated, and the Allow statement can take effect.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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.
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Users from 10.0.0.0/16 can access objects in the confidential/ prefix, but users from 192.168.0.0/16 cannot. — The S3 bucket policy includes an explicit Deny statement that blocks all S3 actions on the 'confidential/' prefix unless the request originates from the 10.0.0.0/16 IP range. Since explicit Deny statements override any Allow statements in AWS IAM policy evaluation, users from 192.168.0.0/16 are denied access to the 'confidential/' prefix even though the GetObject Allow statement includes that range. Only users from 10.0.0.0/16 satisfy the condition in the Deny statement and can therefore access objects in the 'confidential/' prefix.
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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Question Discussion
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