- A
Grant the Azure Disk Encryption service principal 'Reader' role on the key vault.
Why wrong: The 'Reader' role does not provide the necessary cryptographic permissions (Get, WrapKey, UnwrapKey) required by ADE.
- B
Set the key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to true.
This property allows the Azure Disk Encryption service to access the keys and secrets in the vault, which is a standard prerequisite for ADE.
- C
Grant the virtual machine's managed identity 'Contributor' role on the key vault.
Why wrong: It's the managed identity of the VM that needs key-level permissions, not the 'Contributor' role, which is too broad and not sufficient for key operations.
- D
Configure soft-delete and purge protection on the key vault.
Why wrong: Soft-delete and purge protection are required for using customer-managed keys with ADE, but the question asks for the access configuration needed specifically to allow the platform to access the KEK.
AZ-500 Secure compute, storage, and databases Practice Question
This AZ-500 practice question tests your understanding of secure compute, storage, and databases. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 plans to enable Azure Disk Encryption (ADE) on their Windows virtual machines. They will use a Key Encryption Key (KEK) stored in Azure Key Vault. What additional configuration must be made in the Key Vault to allow the Azure platform to access the KEK for encrypting the VM disks?
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 key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to true.
Option B is correct because Azure Disk Encryption requires the key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to be set to true. This property explicitly authorizes the Azure platform (specifically the Azure Disk Encryption service) to access the Key Encryption Key (KEK) stored in the vault for encrypting VM disks. Without this flag, the platform cannot retrieve the KEK, even if other permissions exist.
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.
- ✗
Grant the Azure Disk Encryption service principal 'Reader' role on the key vault.
Why it's wrong here
The 'Reader' role does not provide the necessary cryptographic permissions (Get, WrapKey, UnwrapKey) required by ADE.
- ✓
Set the key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to true.
Why this is correct
This property allows the Azure Disk Encryption service to access the keys and secrets in the vault, which is a standard prerequisite for ADE.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Grant the virtual machine's managed identity 'Contributor' role on the key vault.
Why it's wrong here
It's the managed identity of the VM that needs key-level permissions, not the 'Contributor' role, which is too broad and not sufficient for key operations.
- ✗
Configure soft-delete and purge protection on the key vault.
Why it's wrong here
Soft-delete and purge protection are required for using customer-managed keys with ADE, but the question asks for the access configuration needed specifically to allow the platform to access the KEK.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property with RBAC roles or managed identity permissions, assuming that granting a role to the VM or service principal is sufficient, when in fact the platform requires this specific vault-level flag to be enabled.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, when ADE is enabled, the Azure Compute Resource Provider (CRP) calls the Key Vault REST API to wrap the disk encryption key using the KEK. The 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property is a boolean flag on the vault's access policy that, when true, grants the CRP the necessary permissions (e.g., 'wrapKey', 'unwrapKey') without needing an explicit service principal or RBAC assignment. In a real-world scenario, if this flag is not set, the encryption operation fails with an 'Access Denied' error, even if the user has full permissions on the vault.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-500 question test?
Secure compute, storage, and databases — This question tests Secure compute, storage, and databases — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set the key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to true. — Option B is correct because Azure Disk Encryption requires the key vault's 'enabledForDiskEncryption' property to be set to true. This property explicitly authorizes the Azure platform (specifically the Azure Disk Encryption service) to access the Key Encryption Key (KEK) stored in the vault for encrypting VM disks. Without this flag, the platform cannot retrieve the KEK, even if other permissions exist.
What should I do if I get this AZ-500 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-500 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-500 exam.
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