VA-003 Assess Vault tokens Practice Question
A token with a policy granting 'write' on 'secret/team-alpha/*' is unable to write to 'secret/team-alpha/db-creds' in a KV v2 engine. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume the policy path should match the mount path directly, overlooking the mandatory 'data/' prefix in KV v2, which HashiCorp Vault tests to ensure understanding of Vault's path structure differences between engines.
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 policy path should be 'secret/data/team-alpha/*' for KV v2
D is correct because in Vault's KV v2 engine, the actual data path is prefixed with 'data/' after the mount path. A policy granting 'write' on 'secret/team-alpha/*' targets the metadata path, not the data path. To write secrets, the policy must use 'secret/data/team-alpha/*' to match the correct API endpoint.
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 is not a root token
Why it's wrong here
A non-root token can still write with appropriate policy.
- ✗
The token's TTL has expired
Why it's wrong here
Expired tokens return 'permission denied' but the more precise cause here is the policy path.
- ✗
The token has a conflicting policy from a parent token
Why it's wrong here
While possible, the most common cause is the missing 'data' prefix.
- ✓
The policy path should be 'secret/data/team-alpha/*' for KV v2
Why this is correct
KV v2 secrets are accessed under the 'data' sub-path.
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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.