USB was supposed to rule them all but it’s now a mess of standards sharing the same connector. Different speeds, voltage, charging protocols, alt modes, even the number of pins used is variable… For those asking, the thing is available on Kickstarter
(thinks out lound…)
If you could force different speeds and different voltages, you can make some guesses as to what the cable might support.
USB packets use CRC checks, so a bad checksum may indicate a speed or physical problem. (Besides stating the obvious, my point is that doing strict checks for each USB mode gives CRC more value.)
I just looked over the source code for libusb (like I knew what I was looking for, or something) and it seems that some of the driver(?) components hook really deep into the kernel. There might be a way to test specific parts of any type of handshake (for dataflow or voltage negotiation) to isolate specific wires that are bad by the process of elimination.
I think my point is that a top-down approach is likely possible, but it’s probabilistic.