Troubleshooting CloudTrail Log Delivery: The Missing s3:GetBucketAcl Permission
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A security engineer created this S3 bucket policy to allow CloudTrail to deliver logs from account 123456789012 to the bucket my-trail-bucket. However, CloudTrail logs are not being delivered. What is the most likely reason?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The policy is missing s3:GetBucketAcl permission.
Option D is correct because CloudTrail requires both s3:PutObject and s3:GetBucketAcl permissions on the destination S3 bucket to validate that the bucket policy grants the necessary access. Without s3:GetBucketAcl, CloudTrail cannot confirm the bucket's ACL allows log delivery, causing delivery to fail.
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 Principal should be the CloudTrail service principal for the specific region.
Why it's wrong here
cloudtrail.amazonaws.com is correct.
✗
The Action should be s3:PutObjectAcl instead of s3:PutObject.
Why it's wrong here
PutObject is correct.
✗
The resource ARN does not include the bucket name.
Why it's wrong here
It does include.
✓
The policy is missing s3:GetBucketAcl permission.
Why this is correct
Required by CloudTrail.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates focus on the obvious s3:PutObject action and overlook the required s3:GetBucketAcl permission, which is a subtle but critical prerequisite for CloudTrail log delivery.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudTrail's bucket policy validation involves a two-step check: it first uses s3:GetBucketAcl to read the bucket's ACL to ensure the bucket owner or CloudTrail has write access, then uses s3:PutObject to deliver log files. This is part of AWS's cross-account access control mechanism, where the service must verify both resource-based policies (bucket policy) and ACLs. In practice, if you omit s3:GetBucketAcl, CloudTrail will fail silently, often logging a 'Bucket policy does not allow CloudTrail to write' error in the CloudTrail console.
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.
Visual reference
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
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.
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The policy is missing s3:GetBucketAcl permission. — Option D is correct because CloudTrail requires both s3:PutObject and s3:GetBucketAcl permissions on the destination S3 bucket to validate that the bucket policy grants the necessary access. Without s3:GetBucketAcl, CloudTrail cannot confirm the bucket's ACL allows log delivery, causing delivery to fail.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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