SNOW-CAD Platform Features and Integration Practice Question
A company is integrating ServiceNow with an external system using REST API. The integration is failing with a 401 Unauthorized error. The integration user's credentials are correct and the user has the 'rest_service' role. What is the most likely cause of the failure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 401 Unauthorized with 403 Forbidden; candidates often attribute authentication failures to role or ACL issues, but 401 specifically points to missing or invalid credentials, not insufficient permissions.
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 OAuth token used for authentication has expired or is invalid.
A 401 Unauthorized error indicates that the request lacks valid authentication credentials. Since the integration user's credentials are correct and the user has the 'rest_service' role, the most likely cause is that the OAuth token used for authentication has expired or is invalid. ServiceNow REST API integrations commonly use OAuth 2.0 tokens, which have a finite lifetime and must be refreshed or reissued upon expiration.
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 password for the integration user does not meet complexity requirements.
Why it's wrong here
Password complexity does not affect API authentication if credentials are correct.
- ✗
The integration user does not have the 'rest_api' role.
Why it's wrong here
'rest_service' is the correct role; 'rest_api' does not exist.
- ✓
The OAuth token used for authentication has expired or is invalid.
Why this is correct
401 Unauthorized indicates authentication failure; expired/invalid OAuth token is a common cause.
- ✗
The integration is hitting a table ACL that denies read access.
Why it's wrong here
ACL denial typically returns 403 Forbidden, not 401.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SNOW-CAD practice question is part of Courseiva's free ServiceNow 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 SNOW-CAD exam.