DP-203 Managed Identity Practice Question
You are troubleshooting an Azure Databricks job that writes data to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. The job fails with '403 Forbidden' error. The Databricks workspace uses a managed identity (system-assigned) for authentication. What should you verify?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common trap is to confuse 403 Forbidden (authorization failure) with 404 Not Found (resource not found). Ensure you check RBAC role assignments for managed identities rather than network configurations or resource existence.
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 managed identity has 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role assigned to the storage account
The 403 Forbidden error indicates that authentication succeeded but authorization failed. For a managed identity to write data to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, it must be assigned the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' RBAC role on the storage account. This role grants read, write, and delete permissions for blobs and directories. Without this role assignment, the managed identity cannot write data, resulting in a 403 error. Even if the storage account name is correct (A), the firewall is configured (B), or a private endpoint exists (C), the missing RBAC role assignment will cause the failure.
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 storage account name is correct
Why it's wrong here
Would give 404, not 403
- ✗
The storage account firewall is configured to allow Azure services
Why it's wrong here
Would give network-level error, not 403
- ✗
A private endpoint is configured between Databricks and the storage account
Why it's wrong here
Not required for access
- ✓
The managed identity has 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role assigned to the storage account
Why this is correct
RBAC role is required for write access
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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