VA-003 Utilize Vault CLI and API Practice Question
A DevOps engineer runs `vault token lookup s.abc123` and receives a permission denied error. The engineer has a valid token with the default policy attached. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
HashiCorp often tests the misconception that the default policy grants broad token management capabilities, when in reality it only allows self-service operations and denies any cross-token inspection unless explicitly permitted via a custom policy with sudo capabilities.
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 default policy does not grant permission to look up other tokens
The default policy in Vault is intentionally restrictive and does not include the `token/lookup` capability for tokens other than the caller's own token. Since the engineer is attempting to look up a specific token ID (`s.abc123`) rather than their own token, the default policy denies this action. The permission denied error is expected because the default policy only allows basic operations like reading system capabilities and managing the caller's own token, not inspecting other tokens.
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 token does not have an attached policy that allows 'token/lookup'
Why it's wrong here
While true, the default policy lacks this permission entirely.
- ✗
The token is expired or revoked
Why it's wrong here
The error is permission denied, not a token expired error.
- ✗
The engineer used the token accessor instead of the token ID
Why it's wrong here
The command uses 's.abc123' which is a token ID, not accessor.
- ✓
The default policy does not grant permission to look up other tokens
Why this is correct
The default policy only allows self token lookup, not other tokens.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This VA-003 practice question is part of Courseiva's free HashiCorp 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 VA-003 exam.