- A
The IAM users in Account A must have an IAM policy that allows the sts:AssumeRole action for the role ARN in Account B.
Users need explicit permission to call AssumeRole.
- B
The trust policy for the role must be defined in Account A.
Why wrong: The trust policy is attached to the role in Account B.
- C
The S3 bucket policy must grant access to the IAM users in Account A.
Why wrong: The bucket policy should grant access to the role ARN, not the users directly.
- D
The role in Account B must have a trust policy that allows the IAM users in Account A to assume the role.
The trust policy defines which principals are allowed to assume the role.
- E
The IAM users in Account A must have cross-account permissions on the S3 bucket in Account B.
Why wrong: The users do not interact directly with the bucket; they assume the role which has the permissions.
SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of identity and access management. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 security administrator is designing a cross-account access strategy. The administrator needs to allow users in Account A to assume an IAM role in Account B to access an S3 bucket. Which TWO of the following statements are true regarding this configuration?
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 IAM users in Account A must have an IAM policy that allows the sts:AssumeRole action for the role ARN in Account B.
Option A is correct because for an IAM user in Account A to assume a role in Account B, the user must be explicitly granted permission to call the sts:AssumeRole API action against the role's Amazon Resource Name (ARN). This is done by attaching an IAM policy to the user (or a group/role the user belongs to) that includes the sts:AssumeRole action and specifies the target role ARN as the resource. Without this permission, the user cannot initiate the cross-account role assumption, even if the role's trust policy allows it.
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.
- ✓
The IAM users in Account A must have an IAM policy that allows the sts:AssumeRole action for the role ARN in Account B.
Why this is correct
Users need explicit permission to call AssumeRole.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
The trust policy for the role must be defined in Account A.
Why it's wrong here
The trust policy is attached to the role in Account B.
- ✗
The S3 bucket policy must grant access to the IAM users in Account A.
Why it's wrong here
The bucket policy should grant access to the role ARN, not the users directly.
- ✓
The role in Account B must have a trust policy that allows the IAM users in Account A to assume the role.
Why this is correct
The trust policy defines which principals are allowed to assume the role.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
The IAM users in Account A must have cross-account permissions on the S3 bucket in Account B.
Why it's wrong here
The users do not interact directly with the bucket; they assume the role which has the permissions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing where the trust policy is defined (it must be on the role in the target account, not in the source account) and assuming that direct IAM user permissions on the S3 bucket are required instead of using the assumed role's permissions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the sts:AssumeRole API returns temporary security credentials (access key, secret key, session token) that are valid for a configurable duration (default 1 hour, max 12 hours). The trust policy in Account B uses the Principal element to specify the AWS account ID or ARN of the IAM user/role from Account A, and the Action element must include 'sts:AssumeRole'. A common real-world scenario is using this pattern for centralized logging, where a central audit account assumes roles in multiple member accounts to collect CloudTrail logs from S3 buckets.
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.
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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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SCS-C02 question test?
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: The IAM users in Account A must have an IAM policy that allows the sts:AssumeRole action for the role ARN in Account B. — Option A is correct because for an IAM user in Account A to assume a role in Account B, the user must be explicitly granted permission to call the sts:AssumeRole API action against the role's Amazon Resource Name (ARN). This is done by attaching an IAM policy to the user (or a group/role the user belongs to) that includes the sts:AssumeRole action and specifies the target role ARN as the resource. Without this permission, the user cannot initiate the cross-account role assumption, even if the role's trust policy allows it.
What should I do if I get this SCS-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.
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 →
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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