SC-900 Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra Practice Question
A company uses Microsoft Entra ID. Their sales team wants to use a third-party customer relationship management (CRM) application that requires the 'Sign in and read user profile' permission and also a high-risk permission to 'Read all users' full profiles'. The security team wants to allow users to request access to this application, but they want to require an administrator to review and approve the high-risk permission request before consent is granted. Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should they configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse the admin consent workflow with Privileged Identity Management (PIM) because both involve administrative approval, but PIM handles role activation, not application consent requests.
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
✓
Admin consent workflow
The admin consent workflow in Microsoft Entra ID allows end users to request consent for applications that require permissions, while requiring administrator approval for high-risk permissions. In this scenario, the CRM app requests both a low-risk permission ('Sign in and read user profile') and a high-risk permission ('Read all users' full profiles'), and the security team wants admin review for the high-risk one. The admin consent workflow enables this by letting users initiate the request, then routing it to designated administrators for approval or denial, ensuring that high-risk permissions are not granted without oversight.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Admin consent workflow
Why this is correct
The Admin consent workflow in Microsoft Entra ID allows users to request administrator approval for applications that require permissions necessitating admin consent. When a user attempts to access such an application, they are prompted to request approval, triggering a workflow where designated administrators can review the requested permissions and decide to grant or deny the organization-wide consent. This mechanism ensures that applications requiring elevated permissions are properly vetted before being authorized for use across the tenant, maintaining security and compliance.
- ✗
Conditional Access
Why it's wrong here
Conditional Access policies enforce specific controls based on various conditions, such as user location, device compliance, sign-in risk, or application, to determine whether a user can access a resource. These policies are applied *after* an application has been granted consent and a user attempts to sign in, governing *how* and *when* access is permitted. Conditional Access does not, however, manage the initial process of requesting or granting consent for an application's required permissions.
When this WOULD be correct
Conditional Access would be correct in a scenario where the company needs to require multi-factor authentication or block access from specific locations when users access the CRM application, based on risk signals like sign-in risk or device compliance.
- ✗
Identity Protection
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Entra ID Protection is a security module focused on detecting, investigating, and remediating identity-based risks, such as suspicious sign-ins, leaked credentials, or anomalous user behavior. It leverages machine learning to identify potential threats to user identities and can trigger automated responses like multi-factor authentication enforcement or password resets. This service is entirely distinct from the process of managing user or admin consent for application permissions, as its scope is risk detection, not application authorization workflows.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to automatically block sign-ins from anonymous IP addresses or detect leaked credentials for users accessing a sensitive application. Identity Protection would be configured to enforce risk-based policies.
- ✗
Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
Why it's wrong here
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is designed to manage, control, and monitor access to important resources within Microsoft Entra ID, Azure, and other Microsoft services by providing just-in-time (JIT) and just-enough-administration (JEA) access to privileged roles. While crucial for securing administrative functions, PIM does not facilitate or manage the process of users requesting consent for application permissions. Its focus is on elevating user roles temporarily, not on granting organizational consent for applications.
When this WOULD be correct
An organization needs to provide time-limited, approved access to a high-privilege role (e.g., Global Administrator) for a specific task, requiring approval and activation for a set duration.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The SC-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Admin consent workflowCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
The Admin consent workflow in Microsoft Entra ID allows users to request administrator approval for applications that require permissions necessitating admin consent. When a user attempts to access such an application, they are prompted to request approval, triggering a workflow where designated administrators can review the requested permissions and decide to grant or deny the organization-wide consent. This mechanism ensures that applications requiring elevated permissions are properly vetted before being authorized for use across the tenant, maintaining security and compliance.
✗Conditional AccessWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Conditional Access is used to enforce access controls based on signals like user location or device state, not to manage consent workflows for application permissions. The question specifically requires a feature to allow user-initiated consent requests with admin review for high-risk permissions, which is the admin consent workflow.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Conditional Access would be correct in a scenario where the company needs to require multi-factor authentication or block access from specific locations when users access the CRM application, based on risk signals like sign-in risk or device compliance.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Conditional Access with consent management because both involve policies for application access, but Conditional Access focuses on access conditions after consent is granted, not the consent request and approval process itself.
✗Identity ProtectionWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Identity Protection is designed to detect and respond to identity-based risks, such as compromised accounts or suspicious sign-ins, not to manage consent workflows for application permissions.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to automatically block sign-ins from anonymous IP addresses or detect leaked credentials for users accessing a sensitive application. Identity Protection would be configured to enforce risk-based policies.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse the 'risk' of high-risk permissions with the risk detection capabilities of Identity Protection, assuming it can evaluate permission risk levels.
✗Privileged Identity Management (PIM)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) manages just-in-time access and role activation for privileged roles, not the review and approval of user consent requests for application permissions.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An organization needs to provide time-limited, approved access to a high-privilege role (e.g., Global Administrator) for a specific task, requiring approval and activation for a set duration.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'high-risk permission' with 'privileged role' and think PIM's approval workflow applies to any high-risk action, including app consent.
Analysis generated from the official SC-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Core Security Concepts
Key term
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID is a cloud-based identity and access management service that lets employees sign in and access resources both inside and outside of your organization.
Key term
User
A user is any person, system, or device that interacts with an IT service, resource, or identity system, typically authenticated through credentials and authorized to perform specific actions.
About these practice questions
One of 1,250 original SC-900 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SC-900 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 SC-900 exam.