PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeInstances",
"ec2:StartInstances",
"ec2:StopInstances",
"ec2:RebootInstances"
],
"Resource": "*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:ResourceTag/SAPSystem": "${aws:username}"
}
}
}
]
}An SAP administrator is creating an IAM policy to allow SAP basis users to manage their own SAP EC2 instances. The policy above is intended to allow users to start, stop, and reboot instances tagged with their username. However, users report that they cannot start instances. What is the MOST likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume all EC2 actions support resource-level permissions and conditions, but AWS explicitly excludes certain actions like StartInstances, StopInstances, and RebootInstances from this support, requiring a wildcard resource or a separate condition to function correctly.
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
✓
The ec2:StartInstances action does not support resource-level permissions; it requires a separate condition or a wildcard resource.
The ec2:StartInstances action does not support resource-level permissions in IAM policies. This means that even if the policy specifies a condition based on tags, the condition is ignored for StartInstances, and the action will be denied unless the resource element is set to a wildcard ('*'). AWS documentation explicitly states that StartInstances, StopInstances, and RebootInstances require a wildcard resource or a separate condition to allow the action, making option D the correct answer.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The condition references ${aws:username} which is not available in the context.
Why it's wrong here
aws:username is available.
- ✗
The condition key ec2:ResourceTag/SAPSystem is not valid.
Why it's wrong here
The condition key is valid.
- ✗
The actions are not correct for managing instances.
Why it's wrong here
Actions are correct.
- ✓
The ec2:StartInstances action does not support resource-level permissions; it requires a separate condition or a wildcard resource.
Why this is correct
StartInstances does not support resource-level permissions, so the condition doesn't apply.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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