This VA-003 practice question tests your understanding of utilize vault cli and api. 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.
Refer to the exhibit.
path "secret/data/team/*" {
capabilities = ["create", "update", "read"]
}A user with this policy wants to delete secrets under the 'team/' path. Which additional capability must be added?
Refer to the exhibit.
path "secret/data/team/*" {
capabilities = ["create", "update", "read"]
}sudo
Why wrong: Sudo is for privileged operations, not directly for deletion.
delete
The 'delete' capability allows deletion of secrets.
list
Why wrong: List allows listing secrets, not deleting them.
patch
Why wrong: Patch is not a standard capability in Vault policy.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
delete
The user's policy grants 'create' and 'update' capabilities on 'team/*', but not 'delete'. In Vault's ACL policy system, each operation (create, read, update, delete, list, sudo) must be explicitly allowed. Since 'delete' is missing, the user cannot delete secrets under 'team/'. Adding the 'delete' capability to the policy is required.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
sudo
Why it's wrong here
Sudo is for privileged operations, not directly for deletion.
delete
Why this is correct
The 'delete' capability allows deletion of secrets.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
list
Why it's wrong here
List allows listing secrets, not deleting them.
patch
Why it's wrong here
Patch is not a standard capability in Vault policy.
Common exam traps
HashiCorp often tests the misconception that 'sudo' is a catch-all permission or that 'update' implies delete capability, but in Vault, each operation is explicitly scoped and 'delete' must be granted separately.
Detailed technical explanation
Vault ACL policies use a capabilities list (e.g., ['create', 'read', 'update', 'delete', 'list', 'sudo']) to control access to paths. The 'delete' capability is required for the DELETE HTTP method on the secrets engine endpoint (e.g., DELETE /v1/secret/data/team/foo). Without it, Vault returns a 403 Forbidden error even if other capabilities are present. In real-world scenarios, forgetting to add 'delete' is a common misconfiguration that prevents automated secret rotation or cleanup scripts from working.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
Utilize Vault CLI and API — This question tests Utilize Vault CLI and API — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: delete — The user's policy grants 'create' and 'update' capabilities on 'team/*', but not 'delete'. In Vault's ACL policy system, each operation (create, read, update, delete, list, sudo) must be explicitly allowed. Since 'delete' is missing, the user cannot delete secrets under 'team/'. Adding the 'delete' capability to the policy is required.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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