SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:RunInstances",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:instance/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:InstanceType": "t2.micro"
}
}
}
]
}Refer to the exhibit. An IAM policy allows running EC2 instances. A developer tries to launch a t2.micro instance but receives an 'AccessDenied' error. What is the most likely reason?
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 policy does not grant permissions for other required resources such as images or security groups.
Even though the policy allows the ec2:RunInstances action on the instance resource, the RunInstances API call requires permissions for other resources such as Amazon Machine Images (AMI), security groups, and key pairs. Without explicit permissions for these resources, the API call fails with an AccessDenied error. Option B is incorrect because the condition specifies t2.micro, matching the developer's request. Option C is incorrect because the policy does not restrict by region. Option D is incorrect because there is no explicit deny; the denial is due to missing resource 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 policy does not grant permissions for other required resources such as images or security groups.
Why this is correct
Launching an EC2 instance requires more than the `ec2:RunInstances` action; the policy must also allow dependent resources. The `RunInstances` call authorises each referenced AMI, security group, subnet and key pair, so a policy granting only the run action fails with `AccessDenied` when those resource-level permissions are absent.
- ✗
The developer is trying to launch a different instance type.
Why it's wrong here
The policy's resource or condition restricts the instance type, so launching t2.micro is what triggers the denial; attempting a different type would not resolve it. This would be the correct diagnosis if the policy allowed only specific instance types and the developer had requested an unlisted one.
- ✗
The region in the policy does not match the developer's region.
Why it's wrong here
The policy applies to the developer's region, so a region mismatch is not the cause of the denial. This would be correct only if the policy's Condition element restricted requests to a different AWS region than the one the developer was launching the instance in.
- ✗
The policy has an explicit deny elsewhere.
Why it's wrong here
An explicit deny in another attached policy does override the allow, but the exhibit shows the permission boundary or policy condition as the actual blocker, so this is not the most likely cause. It would be correct if a separate policy statement explicitly denied ec2:RunInstances for that principal.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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