- A
Configure the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI).
This is the recommended AWS solution. Create an OAI, associate it with the CloudFront distribution, and update the S3 bucket policy to allow only the OAI's access. Direct S3 URLs will be denied.
- B
Make the S3 bucket private and use pre-signed URLs for CloudFront.
Why wrong: Pre-signed URLs are used to grant temporary access, but CloudFront would need to generate them on the fly, adding complexity. The OAI method is simpler and more appropriate for static content.
- C
Use AWS WAF on CloudFront to block direct access to S3 by checking the Referer header.
Why wrong: The Referer header can be easily spoofed, so this is not a secure solution. Additionally, it adds overhead and is not a direct method to restrict S3 access.
- D
Create a VPC endpoint for S3 and restrict access to the bucket from the CloudFront IP addresses.
Why wrong: VPC endpoints are for resources inside a VPC, not for CloudFront. CloudFront IP addresses can change, making this impractical and insecure.
SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 has an Amazon CloudFront distribution that delivers static content from an Amazon S3 bucket. The SysOps administrator needs to ensure that the content can only be accessed through CloudFront and not directly from the S3 bucket URL. The solution should use AWS managed services with minimal configuration. Which solution should the administrator implement?
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
Configure the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI).
Option A is correct because configuring the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI) ensures that only CloudFront can retrieve objects from the S3 bucket. The OAI is a special CloudFront user that authenticates requests to S3, and the bucket policy explicitly grants GetObject access only to that principal, blocking any direct S3 URL access. This uses AWS managed services (CloudFront and S3) with minimal configuration—no custom code or additional infrastructure.
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.
- ✓
Configure the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI).
Why this is correct
This is the recommended AWS solution. Create an OAI, associate it with the CloudFront distribution, and update the S3 bucket policy to allow only the OAI's access. Direct S3 URLs will be denied.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Make the S3 bucket private and use pre-signed URLs for CloudFront.
Why it's wrong here
Pre-signed URLs are used to grant temporary access, but CloudFront would need to generate them on the fly, adding complexity. The OAI method is simpler and more appropriate for static content.
- ✗
Use AWS WAF on CloudFront to block direct access to S3 by checking the Referer header.
Why it's wrong here
The Referer header can be easily spoofed, so this is not a secure solution. Additionally, it adds overhead and is not a direct method to restrict S3 access.
- ✗
Create a VPC endpoint for S3 and restrict access to the bucket from the CloudFront IP addresses.
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoints are for resources inside a VPC, not for CloudFront. CloudFront IP addresses can change, making this impractical and insecure.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose Option C (AWS WAF with Referer header) because it seems like a simple web-application-layer control, but they overlook that the Referer header is easily spoofed and does not provide cryptographic authentication, unlike the OAI-based approach which uses AWS Signature Version 4 to verify the request origin.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The OAI works by creating a special identity that CloudFront uses to sign requests to S3; the S3 bucket policy then grants s3:GetObject permission only to that OAI's ARN. Under the hood, CloudFront adds the OAI's credentials to the Authorization header of the HTTP request to S3, and S3 validates the signature against the OAI's canonical user ID. In a real-world scenario, if the bucket policy is misconfigured to allow public access (e.g., via a Principal of '*'), the OAI restriction is bypassed, so the policy must explicitly deny all principals except the OAI.
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.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Networking and Content Delivery — This question tests Networking and Content Delivery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI). — Option A is correct because configuring the S3 bucket policy to deny all access except from the CloudFront distribution's origin access identity (OAI) ensures that only CloudFront can retrieve objects from the S3 bucket. The OAI is a special CloudFront user that authenticates requests to S3, and the bucket policy explicitly grants GetObject access only to that principal, blocking any direct S3 URL access. This uses AWS managed services (CloudFront and S3) with minimal configuration—no custom code or additional infrastructure.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SOA-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 SOA-C02 exam.
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