Autopsy User Documentation  4.19.0
Graphical digital forensics platform for The Sleuth Kit and other tools.
PhotoRec Carver Module

Table of Contents

Overview

The PhotoRec Carver module carves files from unallocated space in the data source and sends the files found through the ingest processing chain.

This can help a reviewer discover more information about files that used to be on the device and were subsequently deleted. These are simply extra files that were found in "empty" portions of the device storage.

Using the Module

Select the checkbox in the Ingest Modules settings screen to enable the PhotoRec Carver. Ensure that "Process Unallocated Space" is selected.

Ingest Settings

The run-time setting for this module allows you to choose whether to keep corrupted files and to include or exclude certain file types.

photo_rec_settings.PNG

For the "Focus on certain file types" option, you will enter a comma separated list of file types. Depending on which option you choose, PhotoRec will either carve only files of those types or all files except those types. You will see an error if an invalid type is entered. Note that file types are case-sensitive.

photo_rec_extensions.png

The list of valid file types for the current version of Autopsy is at the bottom of this page.

Seeing Results

The results of carving show up on the tree under the appropriate data source with the heading "$CarvedFiles".

photorec_output.PNG

Applicable types also show up in the "Views", "File Types" portion of the the tree, depending upon the file type.

Custom File Signatures

To add custom file signatures, create a file (if it does not exist) photorec.sig in the user home directory (for example - /home/john/photorec.sig, or C:\Users\john\photorec.sig). The photorec.sig file should contain one expression per line. For example, to detect a file foo.bar which has header signature - 0x4141414141414141, add an expression

    bar 0 0x4141414141414141

in photorec.sig where bar is the file extension, 0 is the signature offset, and 0x4141414141414141 is the signature. Add another expression on a new line to detect another custom file based on its signature. Note that custom signatures can not be used with the "Carve only the specified types" option.

photo_rec_custom.png

Valid File Types

The following is the list of valid file types for the version of PhotoRec currently used by Autopsy:

1cd          caf          dwg          gp2          max          pdb          rw2          vfb
3dm          cam          dxf          gp5          mb           pdf          rx2          vib
7z           catdrawing   e01          gpg          mcd          pds          sav          vmdk
a            cdt          eCryptfs     gpx          mdb          pf           save         vmg
ab           che          edb          gsm          mdf          pfx          ses          wallet
abr          chm          elf          gz           mfa          plist        sgcta        wdp
acb          class        emf          hdf          mfg          plr          shn          wee
accdb        comicdoc     ess          hdr          mft          plt          sib          wim
ace          cow          evt          hds          mid          png          sit          win
ado          cp_          evtx         hfsp         mig          pnm          skd          wks
afdesign     cpi          exe          hm           mk5          prc          skp          wld
ahn          crw          exs          hr9          mkv          prd          snag         wmf
aif          csh          ext          http         mlv          prt          snz          wnk
all          ctg          fat          ibd          mobi         ps           sp3          woff
als          cwk          fbf          icc          mov          psb          sparseimage  wpb
amd          d2s          fbk          icns         mov/mdat     psd          spe          wpd
amr          dad          fcp          ico          mp3          psf          spf          wtv
apa          dar          fcs          idx          mpg          psp          sqlite       wv
ape          dat          fdb          ifo          mpl          pst          sqm          x3f
apple        DB           fds          imb          mrw          ptb          steuer2014   x3i
ari          db           fh10         indd         msa          ptf          stl          x4a
arj          dbf          fh5          info         mus          pyc          studio       xar
asf          dbn          fit          iso          mxf          pzf          swf          xcf
asl          dcm          fits         it           MYI          pzh          tar          xfi
asm          ddf          flac         itu          myo          qbb          tax          xfs
atd          dex          flp          jks          nd2          qdf          tg           xm
au           diskimage    flv          jpg          nds          qkt          tib          xml
axp          djv          fm           jsonlz4      nes          qxd          tif          xpt
axx          dmp          fob          kdb          njx          r3d          TiVo         xsv
bac          doc          fos          kdbx         nk2          ra           torrent      xv
bdm          dpx          fp5          key          nsf          raf          tph          xz
bim          drw          fp7          ldf          oci          rar          tpl          z2d
bin          ds2          freeway      lit          ogg          raw          ts           zcode
binvox       DS_Store     frm          lnk          one          rdc          ttf          zip
bkf          dsc          fs           logic        orf          reg          tx?          zpr
blend        dss          fwd          lso          paf          res          txt
bmp          dst          gam          luks         pap          rfp          tz
bpg          dta          gct          lxo          par2         riff         v2i
bvr          dump         gho          lzh          pcap         rlv          vault
bz2          dv           gi           lzo          pcb          rm           vdi
c4d          dvi          gif          m2ts         pct          rns          vdj
cab          dvr          gm*          mat          pcx          rpm          veg

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