hardMultiple Choice

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
A principal of "*" in an S3 bucket policy denotes anonymous, unauthenticated access, not every AWS service identity. The confusion is tempting because "*" appears in service principals, but here it means anyone on the internet can reach the bucket, which is the real exposure.
✓
The second statement allows unrestricted public read access to all objects
Why this is correct
The second statement's Principal wildcard combined with Effect Allow and no restricting condition grants anonymous read access to every object in the bucket. This exposes all stored data publicly, which is the immediate concern requiring remediation ahead of any other policy issue in the exhibit.
✗
The policy version is outdated and should be updated
Why it's wrong here
The policy language version is a syntax declaration, not a security control; an outdated value does not widen access, so it cannot be the immediate concern. Version strings are tempting because they suggest staleness, but they only affect which policy grammar AWS evaluates, not who is granted what.
✗
The resource ARN does not include the bucket itself, only objects
Why it's wrong here
The resource ARN scoping only objects still covers every object in the bucket, so the grant's effect is unchanged; the actual exposure lies in the principal or action. Object-only ARNs are tempting to flag because bucket-level actions need the bucket ARN, but that mismatch merely fails those operations.

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