"Permission denied" error on CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")

I am using regular expressions in a file that I have been using for a few years, and today I am suddenly getting a "Permission denied" error on this line:

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I have not changed any code in the file or settings in Excel. This occurred the first time I ran this following a reboot, which was required to implement an update to Malwarebytes. As far as I can tell there were no Windows or Microsoft Office updates applied during this reboot.

I searched extensively and this problem seems to have occurred in the past following a Windows security patch, but I could not find anything more recent than about three years old.

EDIT: I changed to early binding with a reference to the RegExp library and get the same error when instantiating the object:

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I traced this back to settings in the Malwarebytes anti-virus software. Malwarebytes must have reset a default setting in the latest update that prevents loading of VBScript when Excel starts. I was able to find the answer in the Malwarebytes forum. Further, a staffer referred to VBScript as risky and no longer supported.

I am not aware of an alternative implementation of RegExp available for VBA.