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Question 964 of 1,748

Identity and Access Management →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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 engineer is troubleshooting an issue where an EC2 instance cannot access an S3 bucket even though the IAM role attached to the instance has an Allow policy for s3:GetObject. The S3 bucket policy includes a Deny statement with the condition 'aws:SourceIp': ['10.0.0.0/8']. What is the likely cause of the failure?

A
The IAM role’s permissions boundary is blocking the action.
Why wrong: No permissions boundary mentioned.
B
The IAM role does not have an STS trust policy.
Why wrong: EC2 instances automatically assume roles without needing STS trust policy.
C
The S3 bucket is in a different region.
Why wrong: Cross-region access is allowed unless explicitly denied.
D
The Deny statement in the bucket policy is blocking the request because the EC2 instance’s IP falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range.
The bucket policy denies all requests from the private IP range, including the EC2 instance.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 Deny statement in the bucket policy is blocking the request because the EC2 instance’s IP falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range.

The correct answer is D. The S3 bucket policy includes a Deny statement with the condition 'aws:SourceIp': ['10.0.0.0/8']. This Deny overrides any Allow from the IAM role because explicit Deny takes precedence. Even though the IAM role allows s3:GetObject, the request is denied because the EC2 instance's IP address falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range. Option A is incorrect because permissions boundaries restrict the maximum permissions but do not affect this specific Deny. Option B is incorrect because an STS trust policy is not required for EC2 to assume a role; the instance profile handles that. Option C is incorrect because cross-region access to S3 is allowed and not the cause of the failure.

Key principle: ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.

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 role’s permissions boundary is blocking the action.
Why it's wrong here
No permissions boundary mentioned.
✗
The IAM role does not have an STS trust policy.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 instances automatically assume roles without needing STS trust policy.
✗
The S3 bucket is in a different region.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region access is allowed unless explicitly denied.
✓
The Deny statement in the bucket policy is blocking the request because the EC2 instance’s IP falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range.
Why this is correct
The bucket policy denies all requests from the private IP range, including the EC2 instance.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: ACLs stop at the first match

ACLs are processed top to bottom. The first matching entry wins, and an implicit deny usually exists at the end.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

ACL questions test precision: source, destination, protocol, port and direction. A generally correct ACL can still fail if it is applied on the wrong interface or in the wrong direction.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Standard ACLs match source addresses.
Extended ACLs can match source, destination, protocol and ports.
The first matching ACL entry is used.
There is usually an implicit deny at the end.

TExam Day Tips

Check inbound versus outbound direction.
Read the ACL from top to bottom.
Look for a broader permit or deny above the intended line.

Key takeaway

ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.

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.

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.

Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related SCS-C02 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.

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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 — Standard ACLs match source addresses..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The Deny statement in the bucket policy is blocking the request because the EC2 instance’s IP falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range. — The correct answer is D. The S3 bucket policy includes a Deny statement with the condition 'aws:SourceIp': ['10.0.0.0/8']. This Deny overrides any Allow from the IAM role because explicit Deny takes precedence. Even though the IAM role allows s3:GetObject, the request is denied because the EC2 instance's IP address falls within the 10.0.0.0/8 range. Option A is incorrect because permissions boundaries restrict the maximum permissions but do not affect this specific Deny. Option B is incorrect because an STS trust policy is not required for EC2 to assume a role; the instance profile handles that. Option C is incorrect because cross-region access to S3 is allowed and not the cause of the failure.

What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?

What is the key concept behind this question?

Standard ACLs match source addresses.

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