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CCSP Practice Question: Is reviewing a cloud application that uses AWS S3…
A security engineer is reviewing a cloud application that uses AWS S3 buckets. Which vulnerability is most specific to cloud environments and is often exploited to access sensitive data?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 CCSP often tests the distinction between cloud-specific misconfigurations (like exposed S3 buckets) and traditional application vulnerabilities (like SQL injection or XSS), trapping candidates who confuse general web app flaws with cloud-native risks.
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
✓
Exposed S3 buckets with public read access
Exposed S3 buckets with public read access are a cloud-specific misconfiguration vulnerability because they rely on the AWS S3 bucket policy or ACL settings that grant unauthenticated access to objects. Unlike traditional on-premises vulnerabilities, this arises from improper cloud resource configuration, allowing attackers to enumerate and download sensitive data directly via HTTP/HTTPS requests without any authentication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Buffer overflow
Why it's wrong here
Buffer overflow is a memory corruption vulnerability, not cloud-specific.
- ✗
SQL injection
Why it's wrong here
SQL injection is a general web vulnerability, not specific to cloud.
- ✓
Exposed S3 buckets with public read access
Why this is correct
Correct. This is a cloud-specific misconfiguration that can expose data.
- ✗
Cross-site scripting (XSS)
Why it's wrong here
XSS is a general web vulnerability, not cloud-specific.
Visual reference
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.