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easymultiple choiceObjective-mapped

A company develops a web application that runs on Azure App Service. The application needs to access Azure Key Vault to retrieve secrets. The security team wants to avoid using service principals or connection strings. Which identity should they assign to the App Service to authenticate to Key Vault?

Question 1easymultiple choice
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A company develops a web application that runs on Azure App Service. The application needs to access Azure Key Vault to retrieve secrets. The security team wants to avoid using service principals or connection strings. Which identity should they assign to the App Service to authenticate to Key Vault?

Full question →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

A

Best answer

System-assigned managed identity

A system-assigned managed identity is automatically provisioned for the App Service and is tied to the resource's lifecycle. It can be granted access to Key Vault via RBAC or access policies, and the application code uses Azure SDK to obtain tokens without handling secrets.

B

Distractor review

User-assigned managed identity

A user-assigned managed identity could also be used and offers flexibility, but the question states 'avoid using service principals or connection strings' and the simplest solution is the system-assigned managed identity. The scenario does not require a separate identity across resources, so system-assigned is the best answer.

C

Distractor review

Azure AD application registration with a client secret

Using an application registration requires managing a client secret or certificate, which the security team wants to avoid.

D

Distractor review

Azure AD service principal with certificate-based authentication

Service principals also require certificate management and are not as straightforward as managed identities for a single App Service scenario.

Common exam trap

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
  • Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

  • Underline the problem statement mentally.
  • 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.

Related practice questions

Related AZ-500 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

AZ-500 fundamentals practice questions

Practise AZ-500 questions linked to AZ-500 fundamentals.

AZ-500 scenario practice questions

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AZ-500 troubleshooting practice questions

Practise AZ-500 questions linked to AZ-500 troubleshooting.

More questions from this exam

Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.

Question 1

A DevOps team wants Defender for Cloud to identify secrets exposed in GitHub repositories. What should be configured?

Question 2

A public web application should be protected from OWASP-style attacks and network-layer DDoS attacks. Which two Azure services are most relevant?

Question 3

A Sentinel scheduled rule runs every 5 minutes and looks back 1 hour. Analysts see repeated alerts for the same event. Which change best prevents duplicate detections without missing late-arriving logs?

Question 4

A SOC analyst needs a Sentinel query that detects multiple failed sign-ins followed by a successful sign-in for the same user. Which table is the best primary source?

Question 5

A Sentinel watchlist contains high-value administrator accounts. Which KQL pattern best uses it in a detection rule?

Question 6

A SOC wants a Sentinel rule to include account, host, and IP entities so analysts can pivot during investigation. What should be configured in the analytics rule?

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this AZ-500 question test?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: System-assigned managed identity — A system-assigned managed identity is automatically created and associated with the App Service's lifecycle. It can be used to authenticate to Azure Key Vault without storing any credentials in code. User-assigned managed identities also work but require additional creation and assignment steps. Service principals and application registrations are more complex and require secret management.

What should I do if I get this AZ-500 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.

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