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200-901 Practice Question: An administrator is using the Cisco Intersight…
An administrator is using the Cisco Intersight API to manage server profiles. The API returns the following error: '{"error": "Forbidden", "message": "Insufficient privileges"}'. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 403 Forbidden with 401 Unauthorized, assuming any privilege error means the API key is expired or invalid, when in fact the token is valid but lacks the required OAuth2 scopes.
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 OAuth2 token has insufficient scopes.
The error 'Forbidden' with message 'Insufficient privileges' directly indicates that the authenticated user or API client does not have the required permissions to perform the requested operation. In Cisco Intersight, access control is managed via OAuth2 scopes assigned to API keys; if the token lacks the specific scope (e.g., 'server-profile-write') needed for the API call, the server returns this 403 Forbidden error. Option C correctly identifies that the OAuth2 token has insufficient scopes.
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 server profile ID is incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect ID would yield a 404 Not Found error.
- ✗
The request body is malformed.
Why it's wrong here
Malformed request body results in a 400 Bad Request error.
- ✓
The OAuth2 token has insufficient scopes.
Why this is correct
A 403 Forbidden with 'Insufficient privileges' explicitly indicates lack of required scopes.
- ✗
The API key has expired.
Why it's wrong here
An expired key typically results in a 401 Unauthorized error, not 403 Forbidden.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco 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 200-901 exam.