mediumMultiple Choice
CISSP Practice Question: Reviews the cloud storage bucket policy in the…
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
S3 Bucket Policy:
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": "*",
"Action": "s3:GetObject",
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::confidential-bucket/*"
}
]
}A security engineer reviews the cloud storage bucket policy in the exhibit. What is the most significant security issue with this configuration?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates may focus on missing technical details like version IDs or encryption conditions, but the most critical security flaw is the explicit public read access granted to all objects, which directly leads to data exposure.
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 bucket allows public read access to all objects
The cloud storage bucket policy in the exhibit grants "Effect": "Allow" with "Principal": "*" and an action that permits reading or retrieving objects from the bucket. This configuration effectively makes all objects in the bucket publicly readable over the internet, which is a severe data exposure risk. Option C correctly identifies this as the most significant security issue because it violates the principle of least privilege and can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data.
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 resource identifier does not specify a version ID
Why it's wrong here
Not specifying a version ID is not a security issue.
- ✗
The policy does not enforce encryption in transit
Why it's wrong here
While encryption is important, the most significant issue is the public access.
- ✓
The bucket allows public read access to all objects
Why this is correct
The policy grants read access to anyone, exposing sensitive data.
- ✗
The policy lacks an explicit deny statement
Why it's wrong here
Lack of explicit deny is not a security issue; the issue is the overly permissive allow.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Key term
Policy
A policy is a set of rules or guidelines that defines how an organization manages, secures, and operates its IT systems and services.
Key term
Risk
Risk is the possibility that an event or action will negatively affect an organization's ability to achieve its goals, often measured in terms of likelihood and impact.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISSP 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 CISSP exam.