AZ-400 Configure processes and communications Practice Question
Your team uses GitHub Actions for CI/CD. You need to enforce that all workflows use approved actions from a private marketplace. Which GitHub feature should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse runner-level controls (self-hosted runners) with action-level governance, mistakenly thinking that restricting where code runs also restricts what actions can be used.
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
✓
Set the Actions permissions to 'Allow only specified actions'.
The 'Allow only specified actions' setting in GitHub Actions permissions allows you to restrict workflow execution to a curated list of actions from a private marketplace or specific verified publishers. This enforces governance by preventing the use of unapproved actions, which is critical for compliance and security in enterprise CI/CD pipelines.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use environment secrets to store allowed action names.
Why it's wrong here
Environment secrets are simply encrypted variables injected at runtime; they are not evaluated when workflow actions are parsed and cannot act as an allowlist. The only way to restrict action usage is through the repository or organization-level Actions permissions policy, not by storing names in secrets.
- ✗
Require self-hosted runners.
Why it's wrong here
Requiring self-hosted runners only dictates which machine executes the job; it does not restrict which action references are allowed in the workflow. Any action from the marketplace or a private repository can still be used, so this setting alone will not enforce an approved list.
- ✓
Set the Actions permissions to 'Allow only specified actions'.
Why this is correct
Setting Actions permissions to 'Allow only specified actions' creates an explicit allowlist at the repository or organization level, so only actions (and optional version constraints) that you add are permitted. Any action not on that list is blocked from running, which is exactly the enforcement mechanism needed for this policy.
- ✗
Configure OpenID Connect (OIDC) for Actions.
Why it's wrong here
OpenID Connect (OIDC) in GitHub Actions is used to authenticate jobs to cloud providers (such as AWS, Azure, or GCP) by exchanging short-lived tokens; it does not govern which actions can be invoked. Configuring OIDC addresses identity and secret management, not action selection, so it cannot enforce an allowed-actions policy.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Designing a Security and Compliance Plan
Key term
Feature
A feature is a distinct unit of functionality that delivers value to the user, often managed and tracked throughout the software development lifecycle.
Key term
GitHub
GitHub is a cloud-based platform for storing, tracking, and collaborating on code using Git version control.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-400 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-400 exam.