VA-003 Compare and configure secrets engines Practice Question
A security team wants to ensure that secrets stored in Vault are encrypted in transit and at rest, and that even Vault administrators cannot read the plaintext secret values. Which configuration is required?
⚠ Common exam trap
HashiCorp often tests the misconception that storage backend encryption or a strong master key alone can protect secrets from administrators, but the correct approach is client-side encryption via the Transit secrets engine, which ensures that plaintext secrets are never visible to Vault operators.
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
✓
Enable the Transit secrets engine and encrypt secrets before writing them to KV
The Transit secrets engine allows clients to encrypt data (including secrets) using Vault-managed encryption keys before writing the ciphertext to a storage backend like KV. This ensures that even Vault administrators with access to the raw storage backend cannot read plaintext secret values, as the encryption key is never exposed to them. The Transit engine also supports encryption in transit via TLS and at rest via the encrypted ciphertext stored in the KV engine, meeting the full requirement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set a strong master key for the Vault cluster
Why it's wrong here
A strong master key protects the barrier but does not prevent admins from reading decrypted secrets.
- ✗
Configure storage backend encryption using a KMS
Why it's wrong here
Storage encryption protects at rest but Vault can decrypt and expose to admins.
- ✓
Enable the Transit secrets engine and encrypt secrets before writing them to KV
Why this is correct
Transit encrypts secrets at the application level, so admins cannot see plaintext without the encryption key.
- ✗
Both A and B
Why it's wrong here
While both provide layers, only B ensures admins cannot read plaintext; A does not prevent that.
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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.