CCSP Cloud Application Security Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
```
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "s3:GetObject",
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-secure-bucket/*",
"Condition": {
"IpAddress": {
"aws:SourceIp": "203.0.113.0/24"
}
}
}
]
}
```An AWS S3 bucket policy is configured as shown in the exhibit. The security team wants to ensure that only requests from the corporate IP range (203.0.113.0/24) can read objects in the bucket. However, they notice that a CloudFront distribution configured to serve content from this bucket is returning 403 Forbidden errors. What is the MOST likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that the end user's IP address is preserved through a CDN or proxy, leading candidates to incorrectly assume the bucket policy's IP restriction will work as intended.
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
✓
CloudFront requests originate from CloudFront IP addresses, not the end user's IP.
D is correct because when CloudFront fetches objects from an S3 origin, it uses its own IP addresses, not the end user's IP address. The bucket policy restricts access to the corporate IP range (203.0.113.0/24), but CloudFront's requests come from AWS's CloudFront edge IP range, which falls outside that range. This causes S3 to deny the request, resulting in a 403 Forbidden error.
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 bucket policy has a syntax error in the Condition block.
Why it's wrong here
A malformed Condition block would cause S3 to reject the policy at save time, not to serve 403s at request time. The policy parses and evaluates; the Condition simply fails against CloudFront's origin-facing IPs. Syntax error would be correct if the policy had been rejected during PutBucketPolicy.
- ✗
There is an implicit deny that overrides the explicit allow.
Why it's wrong here
S3 evaluates explicit allows and implicit denies together; an explicit Allow for the principal and action overrides the default implicit deny. The 403 stems from the Condition's aws:SourceIp check rejecting CloudFront's edge IPs, not from any overriding deny. Implicit deny would be the answer if no statement granted the required action.
- ✗
The bucket policy does not allow the s3:GetObject action.
Why it's wrong here
The policy already grants s3:GetObject; the 403 arises because CloudFront fetches objects from its own IP addresses, which the Condition's aws:SourceIp allow-list rejects. GetObject omission would be the cause only if the action were absent from the policy statement entirely, which the exhibit contradicts.
- ✓
CloudFront requests originate from CloudFront IP addresses, not the end user's IP.
Why this is correct
CloudFront fetches objects from the bucket using its own edge IP addresses, so the bucket policy's 203.0.113.0/24 condition fails and returns 403. CloudFront must instead be granted access via an origin access identity or origin access control.
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 |
About these practice questions
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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.