The correct answer is to temporarily assign the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date. This is the best approach because it directly implements a temporary RBAC role assignment, granting only the specific permissions needed for purchase order approval while strictly adhering to the principle of least privilege. By setting an expiration date, the elevated access is automatically revoked when the Purchasing Manager returns, preserving RBAC integrity without permanently altering role definitions or resorting to credential sharing. On the CISSP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of temporary role assignment as a core access control mechanism within the Identity and Access Management domain—a common trap is choosing to modify the user’s existing role or add a permanent role, which violates least privilege. Remember the mnemonic T.R.A.P.: Temporary Role Assignment with an expiration date Prevents privilege creep.
CISSP Identity and Access Management Practice Question
This CISSP practice question tests your understanding of identity and access management. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for its ERP system. A user in the 'Accounts Payable' role needs to temporarily approve purchase orders up to $10,000 while the 'Purchasing Manager' is on leave. What is the BEST way to grant this access?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Temporarily assign the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date
Option B is correct because it follows the principle of least privilege by temporarily assigning the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date, ensuring that the elevated permissions are automatically revoked after the leave period. This approach maintains RBAC integrity without permanently altering role definitions or sharing credentials.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Share the Purchasing Manager's account credentials with the user
Why it's wrong here
Credential sharing violates security policy and audit trails.
✓
Temporarily assign the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date
Why this is correct
This grants needed access for a limited time, maintaining least privilege.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Modify the 'Accounts Payable' role to include purchase order approval permissions
Why it's wrong here
This permanently expands the role's privileges, violating least privilege.
✗
Create a new role with the exact permissions needed and assign it to the user
Why it's wrong here
Unnecessary administrative overhead; temporary assignment is more efficient.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose Option D (creating a new role) because they think it follows least privilege, but they overlook that RBAC best practice is to reuse existing roles with temporary assignments rather than proliferating roles, which violates role-mining principles and adds administrative overhead.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In RBAC, role assignment with temporal constraints (e.g., using a time-bound attribute in an LDAP directory or a cloud IAM policy with an expiration timestamp) allows fine-grained access control without permanent role modification. This approach aligns with NIST SP 800-53 AC-2(3) for account management with time limits, and in practice, systems like Azure AD or AWS IAM support role assignments with a 'notAfter' attribute to enforce automatic revocation.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CISSP question in full detail.
Identity and Access Management — This question tests Identity and Access Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Temporarily assign the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date — Option B is correct because it follows the principle of least privilege by temporarily assigning the 'Purchasing Approver' role to the user with an expiration date, ensuring that the elevated permissions are automatically revoked after the leave period. This approach maintains RBAC integrity without permanently altering role definitions or sharing credentials.
What should I do if I get this CISSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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