CSSLP Practice Question: Secure Software Deployment Operations And Management
You are deploying a web application to AWS using Elastic Beanstalk. To ensure secure configuration management, you decide to store sensitive database credentials. Which approach is the most secure according to AWS best practices?
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
✓
Use AWS Secrets Manager to inject secrets as environment variables during instance bootstrap.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store with SecureString or AWS Secrets Manager are the recommended ways to handle sensitive application configuration to prevent hardcoding.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use AWS Secrets Manager to inject secrets as environment variables during instance bootstrap.
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager provides encrypted storage and rotation, which is the industry standard for secure deployment.
- ✗
Hardcode the credentials in the application code and use AWS KMS to encrypt the binary at rest.
Why it's wrong here
Hardcoding credentials is a security anti-pattern, regardless of disk encryption.
- ✗
Use the Elastic Beanstalk Console to set plain-text environment properties.
Why it's wrong here
Plain-text environment variables are visible to anyone with console access.
- ✗
Store credentials in the .ebextensions/environment.config file with read-only permissions.
Why it's wrong here
Config files are stored in source control and are not suitable for sensitive secrets.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CSSLP question from scratch — 198 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official (ISC)² exam blueprint
This CSSLP practice question is part of Courseiva's free (ISC)² 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 CSSLP exam.