SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "s3:GetObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "IpAddress": {
          "aws:SourceIp": [
            "10.0.0.0/16",
            "192.168.0.0/16"
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Action": "s3:*",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/confidential/*",
      "Condition": {
        "NotIpAddress": {
          "aws:SourceIp": "10.0.0.0/16"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

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?

⚠ Common exam trap

Many exam-takers 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.

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

✓

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.

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 on confidential/ applies to every source outside 10.0.0.0/16, so 192.168.0.0/16 requests are blocked despite the bucket-level Allow. It tempts because the Allow statement names both ranges, but explicit Deny overrides Allow in S3 policy evaluation.
✓
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 bucket policy's explicit Deny on the confidential/ prefix applies only to requests outside 10.0.0.0/16, so 192.168.0.0/16 users are blocked there despite their Allow. The 10.0.0.0/16 range satisfies the Deny's condition, so its GetObject requests on that prefix succeed.
✗
Users from 10.0.0.0/16 cannot access objects in the confidential/ prefix.
Why it's wrong here
The deny statement permits 10.0.0.0/16 as its exception, so those users retain access to confidential/ objects. It tempts because the deny appears to block all S3 actions on that prefix, but the condition excluding the 10.0.0.0/16 range carves out that source.
✗
The policy has no effect because the Allow and Deny statements cancel each other.
Why it's wrong here
Explicit Deny overrides Allow in S3 bucket policies, so the deny on the confidential/ prefix restricts access rather than cancelling the allow. It tempts because Allow and Deny statements on the same resource appear contradictory, yet IAM evaluates them independently with deny taking precedence.

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

SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question