hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

CCSP Practice Question: Reviews the S3 bucket policy shown in the exhibit

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:GetObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "IpAddress": {
          "aws:SourceIp": "10.0.0.0/8"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:GetObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
    }
  ]
}

A security engineer reviews the S3 bucket policy shown in the exhibit. Which security concern should be addressed immediately?

⚠ Common exam trap

ISC2 often tests the misconception that `"Principal": "*"` only applies to AWS services, when in fact it grants access to all principals including anonymous users, and candidates may overlook the missing condition that would otherwise restrict access.

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 second statement allows unrestricted public read access to all objects

The second statement in the S3 bucket policy uses `"Effect": "Allow"` with `"Principal": "*"` and `"Action": "s3:GetObject"` without any condition restricting access (e.g., `IpAddress` or `Referer`). This effectively grants anonymous, unauthenticated read access to every object in the bucket, which is a critical data exposure risk. Such a policy violates the principle of least privilege and should be remediated immediately by removing the statement or adding a condition to restrict access.

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 principal "*" grants access to all AWS services
Why it's wrong here
Principal "*" includes all users and services, but the condition restricts IP; the main concern is the unrestricted second statement.
✓
The second statement allows unrestricted public read access to all objects
Why this is correct
The second statement has no condition, so it grants s3:GetObject to anyone, overriding the IP restriction.
✗
The policy version is outdated and should be updated
Why it's wrong here
Version 2012-10-17 is the current version for S3 bucket policies.
✗
The resource ARN does not include the bucket itself, only objects
Why it's wrong here
The resource ARN with /* covers all objects; including the bucket is optional for object-level actions.

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

Go deeper

CCSP Practice Question: Reviews the S3 bucket policy shown in the exhibit

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question