Forensic Acquisition and Analysis of Unsupported Lexus Infotainment Modules via CMD42 Bypass and Data Carving

Crashes involving passenger vehicles increasingly include models equipped with infotainment modules that are unsupported by commercial vehicle system forensics hardware and software. Examiners facing these systems must overcome challenges in acquiring and analyzing user data, requiring an understanding of both digital forensics principles and the proprietary characteristics of the modules. This paper presents a novel methodology for acquiring data from previously unsupported Lexus infotainment modules, including techniques to bypass CMD42 security locks on SD cards and extract data in a forensically sound manner. Once acquired, the paper outlines methods for analyzing user data through data carving techniques, enabling recovery of information from binary images even when the full file system cannot be reconstructed. Emphasis is placed on maintaining the integrity of the evidence and validating findings through controlled testing. These validation procedures ensure that the recovered information is both accurate and admissible, providing examiners with actionable intelligence relevant to crash reconstruction and related investigations. A detailed case study demonstrates the application of these methods on a Lexus infotainment module, illustrating the technical process of bypassing security restrictions, recovering user data, and analyzing the information to uncover relevant insights. Key considerations include correlating extracted data, verifying data integrity, and adapting general forensic principles to a previously unexamined platform. By sharing these findings, the paper provides a roadmap for examiners encountering unsupported vehicle systems, offering practical guidance for overcoming security mechanisms, performing advanced data recovery, and validating results through documented testing. Lessons learned from this work contribute to the broader understanding of automotive digital forensics and underscore the importance of innovative approaches when confronting emerging technologies and proprietary storage protections.