The most useful information from the community is that the Canon VL system does not appear to use the same signaling as Canon EF/EOS, even though Canon made EOS-to-VL adapters for some camcorders.

According to one answer, the VL mount protocol is a SPI-like serial system and is different from EOS. The communication is described as 14 bytes total: 2 header bytes, followed by three 4-byte blocks for the lens’s AF, iris, and zoom sections. A relevant patent was cited: EP0483822B1, which is likely your best starting point for reverse-engineering details.

The CL 8-120mm lens was designed for Canon EX1/EX2 Hi8 camcorders using the VL mount. Another answer notes those cameras used a 1/2-inch sensor format, so the lens is meant for small sensors.

So, the practical takeaway is: don’t assume EF pinout/protocol compatibility; look into Canon’s VL-specific patent documentation and reverse-engineering from the lens side. If you need exact pin assignments, they were not fully provided here, but the patent and inspection/testing against a compatible camera would be the most likely path.