- A
Amazon Cognito identity pools
Why wrong: Cognito is for federated identities, not simple temporary credentials.
- B
An IAM role with a trust policy
Why wrong: Roles require a principal to assume them, not direct user access.
- C
S3 pre-signed URLs
Why wrong: Pre-signed URLs grant access to specific objects, not the entire bucket.
- D
AWS STS
STS generates temporary credentials with a specified duration.
Question 1,721 of 1,746
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.
A company needs to provide temporary credentials for users to access an S3 bucket for exactly 1 hour. The solution must not require any custom code or user management. Which AWS service should be used?
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
✓
AWS STS
AWS STS (Security Token Service) is the correct choice because it can generate temporary, limited-privilege credentials for IAM users or federated users, with a configurable expiration period (up to 1 hour for the default API call). This meets the requirement of providing temporary credentials for exactly 1 hour without requiring custom code or user management, as STS is a managed service that issues credentials via API calls like AssumeRole or GetFederationToken.
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.
- ✗
Amazon Cognito identity pools
Why it's wrong here
Cognito is for federated identities, not simple temporary credentials.
- ✗
An IAM role with a trust policy
Why it's wrong here
Roles require a principal to assume them, not direct user access.
- ✗
S3 pre-signed URLs
Why it's wrong here
Pre-signed URLs grant access to specific objects, not the entire bucket.
- ✓
AWS STS
Why this is correct
STS generates temporary credentials with a specified duration.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse IAM roles (which define permissions) with the actual mechanism to issue temporary credentials (STS), leading them to select Option B, but a role alone cannot generate credentials without STS or custom code.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS STS issues credentials that consist of an access key ID, secret access key, and session token, with a default lifetime of 1 hour for AssumeRole (up to 12 hours for role chaining). The credentials are signed using AWS Signature Version 4, and the session token must be included in all requests to S3. In practice, STS is often used with IAM roles to grant cross-account access or federated user access, and the temporary credentials automatically expire, eliminating the need to manage long-term keys.
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.
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 |
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 for New Solutions — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
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: AWS STS — AWS STS (Security Token Service) is the correct choice because it can generate temporary, limited-privilege credentials for IAM users or federated users, with a configurable expiration period (up to 1 hour for the default API call). This meets the requirement of providing temporary credentials for exactly 1 hour without requiring custom code or user management, as STS is a managed service that issues credentials via API calls like AssumeRole or GetFederationToken.
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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