"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:

Function RegExpFind(FindIn As String, _
                    FindWhat As String, _
                    Optional IgnoreCase As Boolean = False) As Variant ' returns an array of all matches
        
    Dim i As Long
    
      Dim RE As Object, allMatches As Object, aMatch As Object
      Set RE = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
    
    RE.Pattern = FindWhat
    RE.IgnoreCase = IgnoreCase
    RE.Global = True
    Set allMatches = RE.Execute(FindIn)
    If allMatches.Count >= 1 Then
      ReDim rslt(0 To allMatches.Count - 1)
      For i = 0 To allMatches.Count - 1
          rslt(i) = allMatches(i).Value
          Next i
      RegExpFind = rslt
    End If
    
End Function

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:

      Dim RE As RegExp 
      Dim allMatches As Object, aMatch As Object
      Set RE = New RegExp ' Same error here

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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.