Quick Answer
The answer is an IAM role with a trust policy for the SAML provider. This is correct because SAML federation relies on IAM roles to bridge corporate Active Directory identities with AWS permissions; the trust policy explicitly names the SAML identity provider as a principal, allowing authenticated users to assume the role and receive temporary credentials. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of identity federation versus direct IAM user management—a common trap is thinking you need to create IAM users for each directory user, but federation uses roles to map SAML assertions to permissions. Remember the key distinction: the trust policy controls who can assume the role (the SAML provider), while the permissions policy defines what they can do. A useful memory tip is “Trust for who, Permissions for what”—the trust policy is the gatekeeper for the SAML federation flow.
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of identity and access management. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 its corporate Active Directory to access AWS resources. The company has set up an IAM identity provider for SAML. What must be created in IAM to map users to permissions?
An IAM role with a trust policy for the SAML provider
The role trust policy allows the SAML provider to issue tokens for the role.
An OIDC identity provider
Why wrong: OIDC is for web identity federation, not SAML.
An IAM user for each Active Directory user
Why wrong: That defeats the purpose of federation; users are not created individually.
A federation role type
Why wrong: IAM roles are not typed; they are generic.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
An IAM role with a trust policy for the SAML provider
A is correct because when using SAML-based federation, IAM roles are the mechanism to grant permissions to federated users. The role must have a trust policy that specifies the SAML identity provider as the principal, allowing users authenticated by the corporate Active Directory to assume the role and obtain temporary AWS credentials. This maps the SAML assertion attributes (such as the user's group or role) to IAM permissions via the role's permissions policy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
An IAM role with a trust policy for the SAML provider
Why this is correct
The role trust policy allows the SAML provider to issue tokens for the role.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
An OIDC identity provider
Why it's wrong here
OIDC is for web identity federation, not SAML.
An IAM user for each Active Directory user
Why it's wrong here
That defeats the purpose of federation; users are not created individually.
A federation role type
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles are not typed; they are generic.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse the IAM role trust policy with the SAML identity provider configuration itself, thinking the provider alone grants permissions, rather than understanding that the role bridges the SAML assertion to AWS permissions.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, the SAML 2.0 assertion contains an attribute (typically `https://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/Role`) that lists the IAM role ARN and the SAML provider ARN. AWS STS's `AssumeRoleWithSAML` API validates the assertion against the trust policy, which must include the `saml:aud` condition to restrict the relying party URL. A common subtlety is that the trust policy must explicitly allow the SAML provider as the principal, and the role's permissions policy must be scoped to the least privilege needed by the federated users.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Identity and Access Management — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
Identity and Access Management practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
All SCS-C02 questions
1,738 questions across all exam domains
AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
SCS-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Threat Detection and Incident Response.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Security Logging and Monitoring.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Identity and Access Management.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Management and Security Governance.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Infrastructure Security.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Data Protection.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 fundamentals.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 scenario.
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Identity and Access Management — This question tests Identity and Access Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: An IAM role with a trust policy for the SAML provider — A is correct because when using SAML-based federation, IAM roles are the mechanism to grant permissions to federated users. The role must have a trust policy that specifies the SAML identity provider as the principal, allowing users authenticated by the corporate Active Directory to assume the role and obtain temporary AWS credentials. This maps the SAML assertion attributes (such as the user's group or role) to IAM permissions via the role's permissions policy.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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 →
Keep practising
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.
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.