The correct answer is that both the trusting account's role trust policy and the external account's IAM policy to allow sts:AssumeRole must be configured. This is because cross-account IAM role access requires a two-sided permission model: the trusting account (the role owner) must explicitly define a trust policy that designates the external account as a trusted principal, while the external account must grant its users an IAM policy with the sts:AssumeRole action to actually invoke the role. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of the shared responsibility in cross-account access—a common trap is assuming only one side needs configuration, such as thinking the trust policy alone is sufficient. A reliable memory tip is to remember the "handshake" rule: the trusting account opens the door (trust policy), and the external account provides the key (sts:AssumeRole permission).
SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of identity and access management. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 wants to allow users from an external AWS account to assume an IAM role in its account. What must be configured in both accounts?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Both the trusting account's role trust policy and the external account's IAM policy to allow sts:AssumeRole.
Option C is correct because the trusting account (role owner) must have a trust policy allowing the external account, and the external account must have a policy granting users permission to assume the role. Option A is wrong because only the trusting account needs trust policy. Option B is wrong because only the external account needs to grant sts:AssumeRole. Option D is wrong because neither account needs password policy.
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.
✗
An IAM password policy in both accounts.
Why it's wrong here
Password policy is irrelevant for cross-account role assumption.
✗
Only the trusting account's role trust policy.
Why it's wrong here
The external account also needs to allow its users to assume the role.
✗
Only the external account's IAM policy to allow sts:AssumeRole.
Why it's wrong here
The trusting account must also trust the external account.
✓
Both the trusting account's role trust policy and the external account's IAM policy to allow sts:AssumeRole.
Why this is correct
Cross-account access requires both sides: trust policy and permissions policy.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SCS-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Identity and Access Management — This question tests Identity and Access Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Both the trusting account's role trust policy and the external account's IAM policy to allow sts:AssumeRole. — Option C is correct because the trusting account (role owner) must have a trust policy allowing the external account, and the external account must have a policy granting users permission to assume the role. Option A is wrong because only the trusting account needs trust policy. Option B is wrong because only the external account needs to grant sts:AssumeRole. Option D is wrong because neither account needs password policy.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SCS-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses cross-account IAM roles to allow a third-party vendor to access resources in the company's AWS account. The security team wants to ensure that the vendor can only access the specific S3 bucket named 'vendor-bucket'. What should the security team do?
hard
A.Create an IAM user for the vendor and attach a policy that allows access to 'vendor-bucket'.
✓ B.In the trust policy of the role, specify the vendor's AWS account and attach a permissions policy that allows s3:* on 'vendor-bucket'. Also create a bucket policy that allows the role.
C.Use an SCP to deny access to all S3 buckets except 'vendor-bucket'.
D.Create a new AWS account for the vendor and use VPC peering.
Why B: The correct approach is to define a permissions boundary on the role that only allows access to the specific bucket, and also ensure the bucket policy allows the role.
Variation 2. A security engineer is designing a cross-account IAM role to allow users in Account A to access resources in Account B. The engineer wants to restrict access to only users who have authenticated with multi-factor authentication (MFA) in Account A. What condition key should the engineer use in the trust policy of the IAM role in Account B?
hard
A.aws:SourceIp
✓ B.aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent
C.aws:RequestedRegion
D.aws:UserAgent
Why B: Option D is correct because aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent is the condition key to check MFA status. Option A is wrong because aws:SourceIp checks source IP. Option B is wrong because aws:RequestedRegion checks region. Option C is wrong because aws:UserAgent checks user agent string.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This SCS-C02 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 SCS-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.