PAS-C01 Migration Practice Question
Exhibit
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:GetObject",
"s3:PutObject",
"s3:DeleteObject"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:ListBucket"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket"
}
]
}Refer to the exhibit. A company is migrating its data to Amazon S3. The security team has provided this IAM policy for the migration user. However, the migration fails with an Access Denied error when trying to upload files to the bucket. What is the most likely cause?
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 bucket policy explicitly denies the s3:PutObject action for the IAM user.
The IAM policy allows s3:PutObject on the specified bucket. However, if the bucket has an explicit deny statement in its bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject for the user or any principal, that deny will override the IAM policy allow. Since the migration fails with Access Denied, the most likely cause is that the bucket policy explicitly denies the s3:PutObject action for the IAM user. Therefore, Option A is correct. Options B, C, and D are incorrect: Option B is wrong because the IAM policy does include s3:PutObject; Option C is wrong because there is no encryption requirement in the policy; Option D is wrong because default encryption does not cause Access Denied if the user lacks permission to use the key, but the policy does not mention KMS permissions.
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 bucket policy explicitly denies the s3:PutObject action for the IAM user.
Why this is correct
A bucket policy with a deny statement would override the IAM allow, causing Access Denied.
- ✗
The IAM policy does not include s3:PutObject permission.
Why it's wrong here
The policy clearly includes s3:PutObject.
- ✗
The IAM policy does not include kms:Decrypt permission.
Why it's wrong here
S3 server-side encryption with S3 managed keys (SSE-S3) does not require KMS permissions.
- ✗
The bucket has default encryption enabled and the IAM user does not have permission to use the encryption key.
Why it's wrong here
Default encryption does not require additional permissions for the uploading user; the bucket can encrypt objects server-side.
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
Related to this question
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PAS-C01 exam.