SCS-C02 Threat Detection and Incident Response Practice Question

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.
```
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "cloudtrail:CreateTrail",
        "cloudtrail:UpdateTrail",
        "cloudtrail:PutEventSelectors",
        "cloudtrail:StartLogging"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}
```

A security engineer finds this IAM policy attached to a user. The user is able to create CloudTrail trails but cannot start logging. What is the MOST likely reason?

⚠ Common exam trap

The trap here is that candidates focus on the missing `cloudtrail:StartLogging` action in the policy, but the real issue is the missing `iam:PassRole` permission, which is a common oversight when configuring CloudTrail permissions.

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 user lacks `iam:PassRole` permission for the CloudTrail service role.

The user can create CloudTrail trails but cannot start logging because starting logging requires the `iam:PassRole` permission to pass the CloudTrail service role to the CloudTrail service. Without this permission, CloudTrail cannot assume the role needed to write logs to the S3 bucket and deliver them to CloudWatch Logs, even though the user has `cloudtrail:CreateTrail` and `cloudtrail:StartLogging` actions in the policy.

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 user lacks `iam:PassRole` permission for the CloudTrail service role.
Why this is correct
Starting logging requires passing an IAM role to CloudTrail.
✗
The `StartLogging` action is not listed in the policy.
Why it's wrong here
It is listed.
✗
The policy does not specify the `cloudtrail:StartLogging` action.
Why it's wrong here
It is specified.
✗
The user does not have permission to create CloudTrail trails.
Why it's wrong here
The policy allows `CreateTrail`.

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

SCS-C02 Threat Detection and Incident Response Practice Question

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

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