VA-003 Assess Vault tokens Practice Question
A periodic token is created with a TTL of 30 days. After 60 days, the token is still in use but suddenly stops working. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
The exam often tests the distinction between TTL (renewal period) and max TTL (absolute lifetime) for periodic tokens. Candidates may mistakenly assume that a periodic token's TTL alone determines its total lifespan, ignoring that such tokens can be renewed indefinitely unless a max TTL or manual revocation intervenes.
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The token was revoked manually or by an administrator
The token's TTL (time-to-live) of 30 days determines how long it is valid from its creation or last renewal, but it does not set an absolute maximum lifetime. After 60 days, the token would have been renewed or used periodically, so it should still be valid unless an external action invalidated it. Manual revocation by an administrator or via a revocation endpoint is the most likely cause for a token that was working but suddenly stops, as it overrides any TTL-based expiration.
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 exceeded its max TTL of 60 days
Why it's wrong here
Periodic tokens have no inherent max TTL.
- ✗
The token reached its default max TTL of 32 days
Why it's wrong here
Periodic tokens have no default max TTL.
- ✗
The token's explicit_max_ttl was set to a value less than 60 days
Why it's wrong here
It could be, but then the token would have stopped at that time, not exactly 60 days.
- ✓
The token was revoked manually or by an administrator
Why this is correct
Periodic tokens can be revoked at any time; the most likely cause after 60 days is revocation.
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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.