PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. 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.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
Error log from a Cloud Run service:
```
{
"severity": "ERROR",
"message": "Failed to access Secret Manager secret 'projects/my-project/secrets/my-api-key/versions/latest'.",
"service": "my-service",
"reason": "Permission denied on resource 'projects/my-project/secrets/my-api-key/versions/latest'"
}
```
A Cloud Run service is failing to access a secret from Secret Manager. The service account used by Cloud Run has the roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor role. What is the most likely cause of the error?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Refer to the exhibit.
Error log from a Cloud Run service:
```
{
"severity": "ERROR",
"message": "Failed to access Secret Manager secret 'projects/my-project/secrets/my-api-key/versions/latest'.",
"service": "my-service",
"reason": "Permission denied on resource 'projects/my-project/secrets/my-api-key/versions/latest'"
}
```
A
VPC Service Controls are blocking access to Secret Manager.
Why wrong: VPC Service Controls would produce a different error.
B
The service account does not have the iam.serviceAccounts.actAs permission on the Cloud Run service.
Why wrong: That permission is not required for Secret Manager access.
C
The secret does not exist in the specified project.
Why wrong: The error says 'Permission denied', not 'Not found'.
D
The service account does not have access to the 'latest' version of the secret; it needs explicit version access.
The secretmanager.secretAccessor role grants access to specific versions, but 'latest' may require additional permissions if not enabled.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The service account does not have access to the 'latest' version of the secret; it needs explicit version access.
D is correct because Secret Manager requires explicit access to a specific secret version. The `roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor` role grants access to all versions of a secret, but the Cloud Run service must reference a specific version (e.g., 'latest' or a version number) in its configuration. If the service is configured to access the 'latest' version without the `secretmanager.versions.access` permission on that version, access will fail. The error occurs because the service account lacks the necessary permission to access the 'latest' version, even though it has the role.
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.
✗
VPC Service Controls are blocking access to Secret Manager.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Service Controls would produce a different error.
✗
The service account does not have the iam.serviceAccounts.actAs permission on the Cloud Run service.
Why it's wrong here
That permission is not required for Secret Manager access.
✗
The secret does not exist in the specified project.
Why it's wrong here
The error says 'Permission denied', not 'Not found'.
✓
The service account does not have access to the 'latest' version of the secret; it needs explicit version access.
Why this is correct
The secretmanager.secretAccessor role grants access to specific versions, but 'latest' may require additional permissions if not enabled.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that the `roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor` role grants blanket access to all versions, but in reality, access must be explicitly granted to each version, including 'latest', via the IAM policy on the secret or version.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Secret Manager enforces access control at the version level; even with the `secretmanager.secretAccessor` role, a service account must have the `secretmanager.versions.access` permission on the specific version (e.g., 'latest' or a numeric version) to retrieve the secret value. Under the hood, the Cloud Run runtime uses the service account's credentials to call the Secret Manager API with a resource name like `projects/{project}/secrets/{secret}/versions/latest`, and if the IAM policy does not include that version, the API returns a 403 error. In real-world scenarios, this often occurs when a secret is rotated and the 'latest' version is not explicitly granted access, or when the service references a version that was deleted.
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 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
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.
Supporting compliance requirements — This question tests Supporting compliance requirements — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The service account does not have access to the 'latest' version of the secret; it needs explicit version access. — D is correct because Secret Manager requires explicit access to a specific secret version. The `roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor` role grants access to all versions of a secret, but the Cloud Run service must reference a specific version (e.g., 'latest' or a version number) in its configuration. If the service is configured to access the 'latest' version without the `secretmanager.versions.access` permission on that version, access will fail. The error occurs because the service account lacks the necessary permission to access the 'latest' version, even though it has the role.
What should I do if I get this PCSE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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