diff --git a/.github/workflows/asan.yml b/.github/workflows/asan.yml
index 9aaee2e719f..8edd48a70bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/asan.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/asan.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ jobs:
     env:
       QT_VERSION: 6.10.0
       ASAN_OPTIONS: detect_stack_use_after_return=1
+      LSAN_OPTIONS: suppressions=lsan-suppr.txt:print_suppressions=0
       # TODO: figure out why there are cache misses with PCH enabled
       CCACHE_SLOPPINESS: pch_defines,time_macros
 
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run CTest
         run: |
+          cp lsan-suppr.txt cmake.output/bin
           ctest --test-dir cmake.output --output-on-failure -j$(nproc)
 
       - name: Run test/cli
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7bc55f4349b..5f47959f60e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ LIBOBJ =      $(libcppdir)/valueflow.o \
               $(libcppdir)/platform.o \
               $(libcppdir)/preprocessor.o \
               $(libcppdir)/programmemory.o \
+              $(libcppdir)/regex.o \
               $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.o \
               $(libcppdir)/settings.o \
               $(libcppdir)/standards.o \
@@ -325,6 +326,7 @@ TESTOBJ =     test/fixture.o \
               test/testpreprocessor.o \
               test/testprocessexecutor.o \
               test/testprogrammemory.o \
+              test/testregex.o \
               test/testsettings.o \
               test/testsimplifytemplate.o \
               test/testsimplifytokens.o \
@@ -576,7 +578,7 @@ $(libcppdir)/clangimport.o: lib/clangimport.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/checkers.h l
 $(libcppdir)/color.o: lib/color.cpp lib/color.h lib/config.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_LIB} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/color.cpp
 
-$(libcppdir)/cppcheck.o: lib/cppcheck.cpp externals/picojson/picojson.h externals/simplecpp/simplecpp.h externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/analyzerinfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/checkunusedfunctions.h lib/clangimport.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/cppcheck.h lib/ctu.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/json.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/preprocessor.h lib/settings.h lib/sourcelocation.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/symboldatabase.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/timer.h lib/token.h lib/tokenize.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h lib/valueflow.h lib/version.h lib/vfvalue.h lib/xml.h
+$(libcppdir)/cppcheck.o: lib/cppcheck.cpp externals/picojson/picojson.h externals/simplecpp/simplecpp.h externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/analyzerinfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/checkunusedfunctions.h lib/clangimport.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/cppcheck.h lib/ctu.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/json.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/preprocessor.h lib/regex.h lib/settings.h lib/sourcelocation.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/symboldatabase.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/timer.h lib/token.h lib/tokenize.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h lib/valueflow.h lib/version.h lib/vfvalue.h lib/xml.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_LIB} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/cppcheck.cpp
 
 $(libcppdir)/ctu.o: lib/ctu.cpp externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/astutils.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/config.h lib/ctu.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/settings.h lib/smallvector.h lib/sourcelocation.h lib/standards.h lib/symboldatabase.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/token.h lib/tokenize.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h lib/vfvalue.h lib/xml.h
@@ -630,6 +632,9 @@ $(libcppdir)/preprocessor.o: lib/preprocessor.cpp externals/simplecpp/simplecpp.
 $(libcppdir)/programmemory.o: lib/programmemory.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/astutils.h lib/calculate.h lib/checkers.h lib/config.h lib/errortypes.h lib/infer.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/platform.h lib/programmemory.h lib/settings.h lib/smallvector.h lib/sourcelocation.h lib/standards.h lib/symboldatabase.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/token.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h lib/valueflow.h lib/valueptr.h lib/vfvalue.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_LIB} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/programmemory.cpp
 
+$(libcppdir)/regex.o: lib/regex.cpp lib/config.h lib/regex.h
+	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_LIB} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/regex.cpp
+
 $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.o: lib/reverseanalyzer.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/analyzer.h lib/astutils.h lib/checkers.h lib/config.h lib/errortypes.h lib/forwardanalyzer.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/platform.h lib/reverseanalyzer.h lib/settings.h lib/smallvector.h lib/sourcelocation.h lib/standards.h lib/symboldatabase.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/token.h lib/utils.h lib/valueptr.h lib/vfvalue.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_LIB} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.cpp
 
@@ -675,7 +680,7 @@ $(libcppdir)/vfvalue.o: lib/vfvalue.cpp lib/config.h lib/errortypes.h lib/mathli
 frontend/frontend.o: frontend/frontend.cpp frontend/frontend.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/checkers.h lib/config.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/utils.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_FE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ frontend/frontend.cpp
 
-cli/cmdlineparser.o: cli/cmdlineparser.cpp cli/cmdlinelogger.h cli/cmdlineparser.h cli/filelister.h externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/cppcheck.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/importproject.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/pathmatch.h lib/platform.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/timer.h lib/utils.h lib/xml.h
+cli/cmdlineparser.o: cli/cmdlineparser.cpp cli/cmdlinelogger.h cli/cmdlineparser.h cli/filelister.h externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/cppcheck.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/importproject.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/pathmatch.h lib/platform.h lib/regex.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/timer.h lib/utils.h lib/xml.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_CLI} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
 
 cli/cppcheckexecutor.o: cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp cli/cmdlinelogger.h cli/cmdlineparser.h cli/cppcheckexecutor.h cli/executor.h cli/processexecutor.h cli/sehwrapper.h cli/signalhandler.h cli/singleexecutor.h cli/threadexecutor.h externals/picojson/picojson.h lib/addoninfo.h lib/analyzerinfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/checkersreport.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/cppcheck.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/filesettings.h lib/json.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/utils.h
@@ -846,6 +851,9 @@ test/testprocessexecutor.o: test/testprocessexecutor.cpp cli/executor.h cli/proc
 test/testprogrammemory.o: test/testprogrammemory.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/programmemory.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/templatesimplifier.h lib/token.h lib/tokenize.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h lib/vfvalue.h test/fixture.h test/helpers.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_TEST} ${CFLAGS_FOR_TEST} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ test/testprogrammemory.cpp
 
+test/testregex.o: test/testregex.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/platform.h lib/regex.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/utils.h test/fixture.h
+	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_TEST} ${CFLAGS_FOR_TEST} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ test/testregex.cpp
+
 test/testsettings.o: test/testsettings.cpp lib/addoninfo.h lib/check.h lib/checkers.h lib/color.h lib/config.h lib/errorlogger.h lib/errortypes.h lib/library.h lib/mathlib.h lib/path.h lib/platform.h lib/settings.h lib/standards.h lib/suppressions.h lib/tokenize.h lib/tokenlist.h lib/utils.h test/fixture.h test/helpers.h
 	$(CXX) ${INCLUDE_FOR_TEST} ${CFLAGS_FOR_TEST} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ test/testsettings.cpp
 
diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index 6235ebccca7..b9006711ce1 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -51,12 +51,15 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iterator>
 #include <list>
+#include <memory>
 #include <set>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <unordered_set>
 #include <utility>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_RULES
+#include "regex.h"
+
 // xml is used for rules
 #include "xml.h"
 #endif
@@ -1273,6 +1276,13 @@ CmdLineParser::Result CmdLineParser::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const a
                 return Result::Fail;
             }
 
+            std::string regex_err;
+            auto regex = Regex::create(rule.pattern, regex_err);
+            if (!regex) {
+                mLogger.printError("failed to compile rule pattern '" + rule.pattern + "' (" + regex_err + ").");
+                return Result::Fail;
+            }
+            rule.regex = std::move(regex);
             mSettings.rules.emplace_back(std::move(rule));
 #else
             mLogger.printError("Option --rule cannot be used as Cppcheck has not been built with rules support.");
@@ -1350,6 +1360,14 @@ CmdLineParser::Result CmdLineParser::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const a
                         return Result::Fail;
                     }
 
+                    std::string regex_err;
+                    auto regex = Regex::create(rule.pattern, regex_err);
+                    if (!regex) {
+                        mLogger.printError("unable to load rule-file '" + ruleFile + "' - pattern '" + rule.pattern + "' failed to compile (" + regex_err + ").");
+                        return Result::Fail;
+                    }
+                    rule.regex = std::move(regex);
+
                     if (rule.severity == Severity::none) {
                         mLogger.printError("unable to load rule-file '" + ruleFile + "' - a rule has an invalid severity.");
                         return Result::Fail;
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index cce908ba07d..fe3a29f4083 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@
 #include "valueflow.h"
 #include "version.h"
 
+#ifdef HAVE_RULES
+#include "regex.h"
+#endif
+
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cstdio>
@@ -66,17 +70,9 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "json.h"
-
-#include <simplecpp.h>
-
 #include "xml.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_RULES
-#ifdef _WIN32
-#define PCRE_STATIC
-#endif
-#include <pcre.h>
-#endif
+#include <simplecpp.h>
 
 class SymbolDatabase;
 
@@ -1440,135 +1436,6 @@ bool CppCheck::hasRule(const std::string &tokenlist) const
     });
 }
 
-static const char * pcreErrorCodeToString(const int pcreExecRet)
-{
-    switch (pcreExecRet) {
-    case PCRE_ERROR_NULL:
-        return "Either code or subject was passed as NULL, or ovector was NULL "
-               "and ovecsize was not zero (PCRE_ERROR_NULL)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION:
-        return "An unrecognized bit was set in the options argument (PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC:
-        return "PCRE stores a 4-byte \"magic number\" at the start of the compiled code, "
-               "to catch the case when it is passed a junk pointer and to detect when a "
-               "pattern that was compiled in an environment of one endianness is run in "
-               "an environment with the other endianness. This is the error that PCRE "
-               "gives when the magic number is not present (PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_UNKNOWN_NODE:
-        return "While running the pattern match, an unknown item was encountered in the "
-               "compiled pattern. This error could be caused by a bug in PCRE or by "
-               "overwriting of the compiled pattern (PCRE_ERROR_UNKNOWN_NODE)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY:
-        return "If a pattern contains back references, but the ovector that is passed "
-               "to pcre_exec() is not big enough to remember the referenced substrings, "
-               "PCRE gets a block of memory at the start of matching to use for this purpose. "
-               "If the call via pcre_malloc() fails, this error is given. The memory is "
-               "automatically freed at the end of matching. This error is also given if "
-               "pcre_stack_malloc() fails in pcre_exec(). "
-               "This can happen only when PCRE has been compiled with "
-               "--disable-stack-for-recursion (PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING:
-        return "This error is used by the pcre_copy_substring(), pcre_get_substring(), "
-               "and pcre_get_substring_list() functions (see below). "
-               "It is never returned by pcre_exec() (PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT:
-        return "The backtracking limit, as specified by the match_limit field in a pcre_extra "
-               "structure (or defaulted) was reached. "
-               "See the description above (PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_CALLOUT:
-        return "This error is never generated by pcre_exec() itself. "
-               "It is provided for use by callout functions that want to yield a distinctive "
-               "error code. See the pcrecallout documentation for details (PCRE_ERROR_CALLOUT)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8:
-        return "A string that contains an invalid UTF-8 byte sequence was passed as a subject, "
-               "and the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option was not set. If the size of the output vector "
-               "(ovecsize) is at least 2, the byte offset to the start of the the invalid UTF-8 "
-               "character is placed in the first element, and a reason code is placed in the "
-               "second element. The reason codes are listed in the following section. For "
-               "backward compatibility, if PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set and the problem is a truncated "
-               "UTF-8 character at the end of the subject (reason codes 1 to 5), "
-               "PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8 is returned instead of PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8_OFFSET:
-        return "The UTF-8 byte sequence that was passed as a subject was checked and found to "
-               "be valid (the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option was not set), but the value of "
-               "startoffset did not point to the beginning of a UTF-8 character or the end of "
-               "the subject (PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8_OFFSET)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL:
-        return "The subject string did not match, but it did match partially. See the "
-               "pcrepartial documentation for details of partial matching (PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL:
-        return "This code is no longer in use. It was formerly returned when the PCRE_PARTIAL "
-               "option was used with a compiled pattern containing items that were not supported "
-               "for partial matching. From release 8.00 onwards, there are no restrictions on "
-               "partial matching (PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_INTERNAL:
-        return "An unexpected internal error has occurred. This error could be caused by a bug "
-               "in PCRE or by overwriting of the compiled pattern (PCRE_ERROR_INTERNAL)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT:
-        return "This error is given if the value of the ovecsize argument is negative "
-               "(PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
-        return "The internal recursion limit, as specified by the match_limit_recursion "
-               "field in a pcre_extra structure (or defaulted) was reached. "
-               "See the description above (PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UITEM:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UITEM";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UCOND:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UCOND";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_WSSIZE:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_WSSIZE";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_RECURSE:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_RECURSE";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_NULLWSLIMIT:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_NULLWSLIMIT";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE:
-        return "An invalid combination of PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx options was "
-               "given (PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADOFFSET:
-        return "The value of startoffset was negative or greater than the length "
-               "of the subject, that is, the value in length (PCRE_ERROR_BADOFFSET)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8:
-        return "This error is returned instead of PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8 when the subject "
-               "string ends with a truncated UTF-8 character and the PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD option is set. "
-               "Information about the failure is returned as for PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8. "
-               "It is in fact sufficient to detect this case, but this special error code for "
-               "PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD precedes the implementation of returned information; "
-               "it is retained for backwards compatibility (PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSELOOP:
-        return "This error is returned when pcre_exec() detects a recursion loop "
-               "within the pattern. Specifically, it means that either the whole pattern "
-               "or a subpattern has been called recursively for the second time at the same "
-               "position in the subject string. Some simple patterns that might do this "
-               "are detected and faulted at compile time, but more complicated cases, "
-               "in particular mutual recursions between two different subpatterns, "
-               "cannot be detected until run time (PCRE_ERROR_RECURSELOOP)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT:
-        return "This error is returned when a pattern that was successfully studied "
-               "using a JIT compile option is being matched, but the memory available "
-               "for the just-in-time processing stack is not large enough. See the pcrejit "
-               "documentation for more details (PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADMODE:
-        return "This error is given if a pattern that was compiled by the 8-bit library "
-               "is passed to a 16-bit or 32-bit library function, or vice versa (PCRE_ERROR_BADMODE)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADENDIANNESS:
-        return "This error is given if a pattern that was compiled and saved is reloaded on a "
-               "host with different endianness. The utility function pcre_pattern_to_host_byte_order() "
-               "can be used to convert such a pattern so that it runs on the new host (PCRE_ERROR_BADENDIANNESS)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_BADRESTART:
-        return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_BADRESTART";
-#if PCRE_MAJOR >= 8 && PCRE_MINOR >= 32
-    case PCRE_ERROR_BADLENGTH:
-        return "This error is given if pcre_exec() is called with a negative value for the length argument (PCRE_ERROR_BADLENGTH)";
-    case PCRE_ERROR_JIT_BADOPTION:
-        return "This error is returned when a pattern that was successfully studied using a JIT compile "
-               "option is being matched, but the matching mode (partial or complete match) does not correspond "
-               "to any JIT compilation mode. When the JIT fast path function is used, this error may be "
-               "also given for invalid options. See the pcrejit documentation for more details (PCRE_ERROR_JIT_BADOPTION)";
-#endif
-    }
-    return "";
-}
-
 void CppCheck::executeRules(const std::string &tokenlist, const TokenList &list)
 {
     // There is no rule to execute
@@ -1590,73 +1457,7 @@ void CppCheck::executeRules(const std::string &tokenlist, const TokenList &list)
             mErrorLogger.reportOut("Processing rule: " + rule.pattern, Color::FgGreen);
         }
 
-        const char *pcreCompileErrorStr = nullptr;
-        int erroffset = 0;
-        pcre * const re = pcre_compile(rule.pattern.c_str(),0,&pcreCompileErrorStr,&erroffset,nullptr);
-        if (!re) {
-            if (pcreCompileErrorStr) {
-                const std::string msg = "pcre_compile failed: " + std::string(pcreCompileErrorStr);
-                const ErrorMessage errmsg({},
-                                          "",
-                                          Severity::error,
-                                          msg,
-                                          "pcre_compile",
-                                          Certainty::normal);
-
-                mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
-            }
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        // Optimize the regex, but only if PCRE_CONFIG_JIT is available
-#ifdef PCRE_CONFIG_JIT
-        const char *pcreStudyErrorStr = nullptr;
-        pcre_extra * const pcreExtra = pcre_study(re, PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE, &pcreStudyErrorStr);
-        // pcre_study() returns NULL for both errors and when it can not optimize the regex.
-        // The last argument is how one checks for errors.
-        // It is NULL if everything works, and points to an error string otherwise.
-        if (pcreStudyErrorStr) {
-            const std::string msg = "pcre_study failed: " + std::string(pcreStudyErrorStr);
-            const ErrorMessage errmsg({},
-                                      "",
-                                      Severity::error,
-                                      msg,
-                                      "pcre_study",
-                                      Certainty::normal);
-
-            mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
-            // pcre_compile() worked, but pcre_study() returned an error. Free the resources allocated by pcre_compile().
-            pcre_free(re);
-            continue;
-        }
-#else
-        const pcre_extra * const pcreExtra = nullptr;
-#endif
-
-        int pos = 0;
-        int ovector[30]= {0};
-        while (pos < static_cast<int>(str.size())) {
-            const int pcreExecRet = pcre_exec(re, pcreExtra, str.c_str(), static_cast<int>(str.size()), pos, 0, ovector, 30);
-            if (pcreExecRet < 0) {
-                const std::string errorMessage = pcreErrorCodeToString(pcreExecRet);
-                if (!errorMessage.empty()) {
-                    const ErrorMessage errmsg({},
-                                              "",
-                                              Severity::error,
-                                              std::string("pcre_exec failed: ") + errorMessage,
-                                              "pcre_exec",
-                                              Certainty::normal);
-
-                    mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
-                }
-                break;
-            }
-            const auto pos1 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ovector[0]);
-            const auto pos2 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ovector[1]);
-
-            // jump to the end of the match for the next pcre_exec
-            pos = static_cast<int>(pos2);
-
+        auto f = [&](int pos1, int pos2) {
             // determine location..
             int fileIndex = 0;
             int line = 0;
@@ -1685,15 +1486,19 @@ void CppCheck::executeRules(const std::string &tokenlist, const TokenList &list)
 
             // Report error
             mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
-        }
+        };
 
-        pcre_free(re);
-#ifdef PCRE_CONFIG_JIT
-        // Free up the EXTRA PCRE value (may be NULL at this point)
-        if (pcreExtra) {
-            pcre_free_study(pcreExtra);
+        const std::string err = rule.regex->match(str, f);
+        if (!err.empty()) {
+            const ErrorMessage errmsg(std::list<ErrorMessage::FileLocation>(),
+                                      emptyString,
+                                      Severity::error,
+                                      err,
+                                      "pcre_exec",
+                                      Certainty::normal);
+
+            mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
         }
-#endif
     }
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
index 6388c1e3646..f8541fef8a0 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@
     <ClCompile Include="platform.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="preprocessor.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="programmemory.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="regex.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="reverseanalyzer.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="settings.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="standards.cpp" />
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@
     <ClInclude Include="precompiled.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="preprocessor.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="programmemory.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="regex.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="reverseanalyzer.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="settings.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="smallvector.h" />
diff --git a/lib/regex.cpp b/lib/regex.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ede1406434
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/regex.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+/*
+ * Cppcheck - A tool for static C/C++ code analysis
+ * Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Cppcheck team.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_RULES
+
+#include "regex.h"
+
+#include <utility>
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#define PCRE_STATIC
+#endif
+#include <pcre.h>
+
+namespace {
+    std::string pcreErrorCodeToString(const int pcreExecRet)
+    {
+        switch (pcreExecRet) {
+        case PCRE_ERROR_NULL:
+            return "Either code or subject was passed as NULL, or ovector was NULL "
+                   "and ovecsize was not zero (PCRE_ERROR_NULL)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION:
+            return "An unrecognized bit was set in the options argument (PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC:
+            return "PCRE stores a 4-byte \"magic number\" at the start of the compiled code, "
+                   "to catch the case when it is passed a junk pointer and to detect when a "
+                   "pattern that was compiled in an environment of one endianness is run in "
+                   "an environment with the other endianness. This is the error that PCRE "
+                   "gives when the magic number is not present (PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_UNKNOWN_NODE:
+            return "While running the pattern match, an unknown item was encountered in the "
+                   "compiled pattern. This error could be caused by a bug in PCRE or by "
+                   "overwriting of the compiled pattern (PCRE_ERROR_UNKNOWN_NODE)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY:
+            return "If a pattern contains back references, but the ovector that is passed "
+                   "to pcre_exec() is not big enough to remember the referenced substrings, "
+                   "PCRE gets a block of memory at the start of matching to use for this purpose. "
+                   "If the call via pcre_malloc() fails, this error is given. The memory is "
+                   "automatically freed at the end of matching. This error is also given if "
+                   "pcre_stack_malloc() fails in pcre_exec(). "
+                   "This can happen only when PCRE has been compiled with "
+                   "--disable-stack-for-recursion (PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING:
+            return "This error is used by the pcre_copy_substring(), pcre_get_substring(), "
+                   "and pcre_get_substring_list() functions (see below). "
+                   "It is never returned by pcre_exec() (PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT:
+            return "The backtracking limit, as specified by the match_limit field in a pcre_extra "
+                   "structure (or defaulted) was reached. "
+                   "See the description above (PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_CALLOUT:
+            return "This error is never generated by pcre_exec() itself. "
+                   "It is provided for use by callout functions that want to yield a distinctive "
+                   "error code. See the pcrecallout documentation for details (PCRE_ERROR_CALLOUT)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8:
+            return "A string that contains an invalid UTF-8 byte sequence was passed as a subject, "
+                   "and the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option was not set. If the size of the output vector "
+                   "(ovecsize) is at least 2, the byte offset to the start of the the invalid UTF-8 "
+                   "character is placed in the first element, and a reason code is placed in the "
+                   "second element. The reason codes are listed in the following section. For "
+                   "backward compatibility, if PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set and the problem is a truncated "
+                   "UTF-8 character at the end of the subject (reason codes 1 to 5), "
+                   "PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8 is returned instead of PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8_OFFSET:
+            return "The UTF-8 byte sequence that was passed as a subject was checked and found to "
+                   "be valid (the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option was not set), but the value of "
+                   "startoffset did not point to the beginning of a UTF-8 character or the end of "
+                   "the subject (PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8_OFFSET)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL:
+            return "The subject string did not match, but it did match partially. See the "
+                   "pcrepartial documentation for details of partial matching (PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL:
+            return "This code is no longer in use. It was formerly returned when the PCRE_PARTIAL "
+                   "option was used with a compiled pattern containing items that were not supported "
+                   "for partial matching. From release 8.00 onwards, there are no restrictions on "
+                   "partial matching (PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_INTERNAL:
+            return "An unexpected internal error has occurred. This error could be caused by a bug "
+                   "in PCRE or by overwriting of the compiled pattern (PCRE_ERROR_INTERNAL)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT:
+            return "This error is given if the value of the ovecsize argument is negative "
+                   "(PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
+            return "The internal recursion limit, as specified by the match_limit_recursion "
+                   "field in a pcre_extra structure (or defaulted) was reached. "
+                   "See the description above (PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UITEM:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UITEM";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UCOND:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_UCOND";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_WSSIZE:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_WSSIZE";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_RECURSE:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_RECURSE";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_NULLWSLIMIT:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_NULLWSLIMIT";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE:
+            return "An invalid combination of PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx options was "
+                   "given (PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADOFFSET:
+            return "The value of startoffset was negative or greater than the length "
+                   "of the subject, that is, the value in length (PCRE_ERROR_BADOFFSET)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8:
+            return "This error is returned instead of PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8 when the subject "
+                   "string ends with a truncated UTF-8 character and the PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD option is set. "
+                   "Information about the failure is returned as for PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8. "
+                   "It is in fact sufficient to detect this case, but this special error code for "
+                   "PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD precedes the implementation of returned information; "
+                   "it is retained for backwards compatibility (PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSELOOP:
+            return "This error is returned when pcre_exec() detects a recursion loop "
+                   "within the pattern. Specifically, it means that either the whole pattern "
+                   "or a subpattern has been called recursively for the second time at the same "
+                   "position in the subject string. Some simple patterns that might do this "
+                   "are detected and faulted at compile time, but more complicated cases, "
+                   "in particular mutual recursions between two different subpatterns, "
+                   "cannot be detected until run time (PCRE_ERROR_RECURSELOOP)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT:
+            return "This error is returned when a pattern that was successfully studied "
+                   "using a JIT compile option is being matched, but the memory available "
+                   "for the just-in-time processing stack is not large enough. See the pcrejit "
+                   "documentation for more details (PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADMODE:
+            return "This error is given if a pattern that was compiled by the 8-bit library "
+                   "is passed to a 16-bit or 32-bit library function, or vice versa (PCRE_ERROR_BADMODE)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADENDIANNESS:
+            return "This error is given if a pattern that was compiled and saved is reloaded on a "
+                   "host with different endianness. The utility function pcre_pattern_to_host_byte_order() "
+                   "can be used to convert such a pattern so that it runs on the new host (PCRE_ERROR_BADENDIANNESS)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_DFA_BADRESTART:
+            return "PCRE_ERROR_DFA_BADRESTART";
+#if PCRE_MAJOR >= 8 && PCRE_MINOR >= 32
+        case PCRE_ERROR_BADLENGTH:
+            return "This error is given if pcre_exec() is called with a negative value for the length argument (PCRE_ERROR_BADLENGTH)";
+        case PCRE_ERROR_JIT_BADOPTION:
+            return "This error is returned when a pattern that was successfully studied using a JIT compile "
+                   "option is being matched, but the matching mode (partial or complete match) does not correspond "
+                   "to any JIT compilation mode. When the JIT fast path function is used, this error may be "
+                   "also given for invalid options. See the pcrejit documentation for more details (PCRE_ERROR_JIT_BADOPTION)";
+#endif
+        }
+        return "unknown PCRE error " + std::to_string(pcreExecRet);
+    }
+
+    class PcreRegex : public Regex
+    {
+    public:
+        explicit PcreRegex(std::string pattern)
+            : mPattern(std::move(pattern))
+        {}
+
+        ~PcreRegex() override
+        {
+            if (mExtra) {
+                pcre_free(mExtra);
+                mExtra = nullptr;
+            }
+            if (mRe) {
+                pcre_free(mRe);
+                mRe = nullptr;
+            }
+        }
+
+        std::string compile();
+        std::string match(const std::string& str, const MatchFn& match) const override;
+
+    private:
+        std::string mPattern;
+        pcre* mRe{};
+        pcre_extra* mExtra{};
+    };
+
+    std::string PcreRegex::compile()
+    {
+        if (mRe)
+            return "pcre_compile failed: regular expression has already been compiled";
+
+        const char *pcreCompileErrorStr = nullptr;
+        int erroffset = 0;
+        pcre * const re = pcre_compile(mPattern.c_str(),0,&pcreCompileErrorStr,&erroffset,nullptr);
+        if (!re) {
+            if (pcreCompileErrorStr)
+                return "pcre_compile failed: " + std::string(pcreCompileErrorStr);
+            return "pcre_compile failed: unknown error";
+        }
+
+        // Optimize the regex, but only if PCRE_CONFIG_JIT is available
+#ifdef PCRE_CONFIG_JIT
+        const char *pcreStudyErrorStr = nullptr;
+        pcre_extra * const pcreExtra = pcre_study(re, PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE, &pcreStudyErrorStr);
+        // pcre_study() returns NULL for both errors and when it can not optimize the regex.
+        // The last argument is how one checks for errors.
+        // It is NULL if everything works, and points to an error string otherwise.
+        if (pcreStudyErrorStr) {
+            // pcre_compile() worked, but pcre_study() returned an error. Free the resources allocated by pcre_compile().
+            pcre_free(re);
+            return "pcre_study failed: " + std::string(pcreStudyErrorStr);
+        }
+        mExtra = pcreExtra;
+#endif
+
+        mRe = re;
+
+        return "";
+    }
+
+    std::string PcreRegex::match(const std::string& str, const MatchFn& match) const
+    {
+        if (!mRe)
+            return "pcre_exec failed: regular expression has not been compiled yet";
+
+        int pos = 0;
+        int ovector[30]= {0};
+        while (pos < static_cast<int>(str.size())) {
+            const int pcreExecRet = pcre_exec(mRe, mExtra, str.c_str(), static_cast<int>(str.size()), pos, 0, ovector, 30);
+            if (pcreExecRet == PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH)
+                return "";
+            if (pcreExecRet < 0) {
+                return "pcre_exec failed (pos: " + std::to_string(pos) + "): " + pcreErrorCodeToString(pcreExecRet);
+            }
+            const auto pos1 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ovector[0]);
+            const auto pos2 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ovector[1]);
+
+            match(pos1, pos2);
+
+            // jump to the end of the match for the next pcre_exec
+            pos = static_cast<int>(pos2);
+        }
+
+        return "";
+    }
+}
+
+std::shared_ptr<Regex> Regex::create(std::string pattern, std::string& err)
+{
+    auto* regex = new PcreRegex(std::move(pattern));
+    err = regex->compile();
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        delete regex;
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+    return std::shared_ptr<Regex>(regex);
+}
+
+#endif // HAVE_RULES
diff --git a/lib/regex.h b/lib/regex.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f264314efe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/regex.h
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/* -*- C++ -*-
+ * Cppcheck - A tool for static C/C++ code analysis
+ * Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Cppcheck team.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+#ifndef regexH
+#define regexH
+//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#ifdef HAVE_RULES
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <functional>
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+
+class CPPCHECKLIB Regex
+{
+public:
+    virtual ~Regex() = default;
+
+    using MatchFn = std::function<void (int start, int end)>;
+    virtual std::string match(const std::string& str, const MatchFn& matchFn) const = 0;
+
+    static std::shared_ptr<Regex> create(std::string pattern, std::string& err);
+};
+
+#endif // HAVE_RULES
+
+#endif // regexH
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index 41651dbbeb3..7e70adfdd32 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_RULES
+#include <memory>
+
+class Regex;
+#endif
+
 struct Suppressions;
 enum class SHOWTIME_MODES : std::uint8_t;
 namespace ValueFlow {
@@ -338,6 +344,7 @@ class CPPCHECKLIB WARN_UNUSED Settings {
         std::string id = "rule"; // default id
         std::string summary;
         Severity severity = Severity::style; // default severity
+        std::shared_ptr<Regex> regex;
     };
 
     /**
diff --git a/lsan-suppr.txt b/lsan-suppr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bf8389f247e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lsan-suppr.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+leak:libpcre.so
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/oss-fuzz/Makefile b/oss-fuzz/Makefile
index 5d4658790aa..76c81cc19f2 100644
--- a/oss-fuzz/Makefile
+++ b/oss-fuzz/Makefile
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ LIBOBJ =      $(libcppdir)/valueflow.o \
               $(libcppdir)/platform.o \
               $(libcppdir)/preprocessor.o \
               $(libcppdir)/programmemory.o \
+              $(libcppdir)/regex.o \
               $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.o \
               $(libcppdir)/settings.o \
               $(libcppdir)/standards.o \
@@ -258,7 +259,7 @@ $(libcppdir)/clangimport.o: ../lib/clangimport.cpp ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/che
 $(libcppdir)/color.o: ../lib/color.cpp ../lib/color.h ../lib/config.h
 	$(CXX) ${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/color.cpp
 
-$(libcppdir)/cppcheck.o: ../lib/cppcheck.cpp ../externals/picojson/picojson.h ../externals/simplecpp/simplecpp.h ../externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/analyzerinfo.h ../lib/check.h ../lib/checkers.h ../lib/checkunusedfunctions.h ../lib/clangimport.h ../lib/color.h ../lib/config.h ../lib/cppcheck.h ../lib/ctu.h ../lib/errorlogger.h ../lib/errortypes.h ../lib/filesettings.h ../lib/json.h ../lib/library.h ../lib/mathlib.h ../lib/path.h ../lib/platform.h ../lib/preprocessor.h ../lib/settings.h ../lib/sourcelocation.h ../lib/standards.h ../lib/suppressions.h ../lib/symboldatabase.h ../lib/templatesimplifier.h ../lib/timer.h ../lib/token.h ../lib/tokenize.h ../lib/tokenlist.h ../lib/utils.h ../lib/valueflow.h ../lib/version.h ../lib/vfvalue.h ../lib/xml.h
+$(libcppdir)/cppcheck.o: ../lib/cppcheck.cpp ../externals/picojson/picojson.h ../externals/simplecpp/simplecpp.h ../externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/analyzerinfo.h ../lib/check.h ../lib/checkers.h ../lib/checkunusedfunctions.h ../lib/clangimport.h ../lib/color.h ../lib/config.h ../lib/cppcheck.h ../lib/ctu.h ../lib/errorlogger.h ../lib/errortypes.h ../lib/filesettings.h ../lib/json.h ../lib/library.h ../lib/mathlib.h ../lib/path.h ../lib/platform.h ../lib/preprocessor.h ../lib/regex.h ../lib/settings.h ../lib/sourcelocation.h ../lib/standards.h ../lib/suppressions.h ../lib/symboldatabase.h ../lib/templatesimplifier.h ../lib/timer.h ../lib/token.h ../lib/tokenize.h ../lib/tokenlist.h ../lib/utils.h ../lib/valueflow.h ../lib/version.h ../lib/vfvalue.h ../lib/xml.h
 	$(CXX) ${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/cppcheck.cpp
 
 $(libcppdir)/ctu.o: ../lib/ctu.cpp ../externals/tinyxml2/tinyxml2.h ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/astutils.h ../lib/check.h ../lib/checkers.h ../lib/config.h ../lib/ctu.h ../lib/errorlogger.h ../lib/errortypes.h ../lib/library.h ../lib/mathlib.h ../lib/path.h ../lib/platform.h ../lib/settings.h ../lib/smallvector.h ../lib/sourcelocation.h ../lib/standards.h ../lib/symboldatabase.h ../lib/templatesimplifier.h ../lib/token.h ../lib/tokenize.h ../lib/tokenlist.h ../lib/utils.h ../lib/vfvalue.h ../lib/xml.h
@@ -312,6 +313,9 @@ $(libcppdir)/preprocessor.o: ../lib/preprocessor.cpp ../externals/simplecpp/simp
 $(libcppdir)/programmemory.o: ../lib/programmemory.cpp ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/astutils.h ../lib/calculate.h ../lib/checkers.h ../lib/config.h ../lib/errortypes.h ../lib/infer.h ../lib/library.h ../lib/mathlib.h ../lib/platform.h ../lib/programmemory.h ../lib/settings.h ../lib/smallvector.h ../lib/sourcelocation.h ../lib/standards.h ../lib/symboldatabase.h ../lib/templatesimplifier.h ../lib/token.h ../lib/tokenlist.h ../lib/utils.h ../lib/valueflow.h ../lib/valueptr.h ../lib/vfvalue.h
 	$(CXX) ${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/programmemory.cpp
 
+$(libcppdir)/regex.o: ../lib/regex.cpp ../lib/config.h ../lib/regex.h
+	$(CXX) ${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/regex.cpp
+
 $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.o: ../lib/reverseanalyzer.cpp ../lib/addoninfo.h ../lib/analyzer.h ../lib/astutils.h ../lib/checkers.h ../lib/config.h ../lib/errortypes.h ../lib/forwardanalyzer.h ../lib/library.h ../lib/mathlib.h ../lib/platform.h ../lib/reverseanalyzer.h ../lib/settings.h ../lib/smallvector.h ../lib/sourcelocation.h ../lib/standards.h ../lib/symboldatabase.h ../lib/templatesimplifier.h ../lib/token.h ../lib/utils.h ../lib/valueptr.h ../lib/vfvalue.h
 	$(CXX) ${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE} $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $(libcppdir)/reverseanalyzer.cpp
 
diff --git a/test/cli/other_test.py b/test/cli/other_test.py
index bd7030d88bd..2b25bfebdd7 100644
--- a/test/cli/other_test.py
+++ b/test/cli/other_test.py
@@ -1576,6 +1576,27 @@ def test_rule(tmpdir):
     ]
 
 
+def test_rule_multiple_files(tmpdir):
+    stderr_exp = []
+    for i in range(10):
+        test_file = os.path.join(tmpdir, f'test_{i}.c')
+        stderr_exp.append("{}:4:0: style: found 'f' [rule]".format(test_file))
+        with open(test_file, 'wt') as f:
+            f.write('''
+#define DEF_1
+#define DEF_2
+void f() { }
+''')
+
+    exitcode, stdout, stderr = cppcheck(['-q', '--template=simple', '--rule=f', str(tmpdir)])
+    assert exitcode == 0, stdout if stdout else stderr
+    assert stdout.splitlines() == []
+    lines = stderr.splitlines()
+    lines.sort()
+    stderr_exp.sort()
+    assert lines == stderr_exp
+
+
 def test_filelist(tmpdir):
     list_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'list-dir')
     os.mkdir(list_dir)
diff --git a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
index f0de4d18e81..9a1fb64279e 100644
--- a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -382,6 +382,7 @@ class TestCmdlineParser : public TestFixture {
 #ifdef HAVE_RULES
         TEST_CASE(rule);
         TEST_CASE(ruleMissingPattern);
+        TEST_CASE(ruleInvalidPattern);
 #else
         TEST_CASE(ruleNotSupported);
 #endif
@@ -401,6 +402,7 @@ class TestCmdlineParser : public TestFixture {
         TEST_CASE(ruleFileMissingId);
         TEST_CASE(ruleFileInvalidSeverity1);
         TEST_CASE(ruleFileInvalidSeverity2);
+        TEST_CASE(ruleFileInvalidPattern);
 #else
         TEST_CASE(ruleFileNotSupported);
 #endif
@@ -2582,6 +2584,13 @@ class TestCmdlineParser : public TestFixture {
         ASSERT_EQUALS_ENUM(CmdLineParser::Result::Fail, parseFromArgs(argv));
         ASSERT_EQUALS("cppcheck: error: no rule pattern provided.\n", logger->str());
     }
+
+    void ruleInvalidPattern() {
+        REDIRECT;
+        const char * const argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--rule=.*\\", "file.cpp"};
+        ASSERT_EQUALS_ENUM(CmdLineParser::Result::Fail, parser->parseFromArgs(3, argv));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("cppcheck: error: failed to compile rule pattern '.*\\' (pcre_compile failed: \\ at end of pattern).\n", logger->str());
+    }
 #else
     void ruleNotSupported() {
         REDIRECT;
@@ -2806,6 +2815,17 @@ class TestCmdlineParser : public TestFixture {
         ASSERT_EQUALS_ENUM(CmdLineParser::Result::Fail, parseFromArgs(argv));
         ASSERT_EQUALS("cppcheck: error: unable to load rule-file 'rule.xml' - a rule has an invalid severity.\n", logger->str());
     }
+
+    void ruleFileInvalidPattern() {
+        REDIRECT;
+        ScopedFile file("rule.xml",
+                        "<rule>\n"
+                        "<pattern>.+\\</pattern>\n"
+                        "</rule>\n");
+        const char * const argv[] = {"cppcheck", "--rule-file=rule.xml", "file.cpp"};
+        ASSERT_EQUALS_ENUM(CmdLineParser::Result::Fail, parser->parseFromArgs(3, argv));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("cppcheck: error: unable to load rule-file 'rule.xml' - pattern '.+\\' failed to compile (pcre_compile failed: \\ at end of pattern).\n", logger->str());
+    }
 #else
     void ruleFileNotSupported() {
         REDIRECT;
diff --git a/test/testregex.cpp b/test/testregex.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3809b19796e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/testregex.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+/*
+ * Cppcheck - A tool for static C/C++ code analysis
+ * Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Cppcheck team.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_RULES
+
+#include "fixture.h"
+#include "regex.h"
+
+#include <list>
+#include <string>
+#include <utility>
+
+class TestRegEx : public TestFixture {
+public:
+    TestRegEx() : TestFixture("TestRegEx") {}
+
+private:
+    void run() override {
+        TEST_CASE(match);
+        TEST_CASE(nomatch);
+        TEST_CASE(compileError);
+        TEST_CASE(copy);
+        TEST_CASE(multimatch);
+        TEST_CASE(partialmatch);
+        TEST_CASE(exactmatch);
+    }
+
+#define assertRegex(...) assertRegex_(__FILE__, __LINE__, __VA_ARGS__)
+    std::shared_ptr<Regex> assertRegex_(const char* file, int line, std::string pattern, const std::string& exp_err = "") const {
+        std::string regex_err;
+        auto r = Regex::create(std::move(pattern), regex_err);
+        if (exp_err.empty())
+            ASSERT_LOC(!!r.get(), file, line);
+        else
+            ASSERT_LOC(!r.get(), file, line); // only not set if we encountered an error
+        ASSERT_EQUALS_LOC(exp_err, regex_err, file, line);
+        return r;
+    }
+
+    void match() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("begin.*end");
+        int called = 0;
+        int s = -1;
+        int e = -1;
+        auto f = [&](int start, int end) {
+            ++called;
+            s = start;
+            e = end;
+        };
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("begin-123-end", std::move(f)));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(13, e);
+    }
+
+    void nomatch() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("begin.*end");
+        int called = 0;
+        auto f = [&](int /*start*/, int /*end*/) {
+            ++called;
+        };
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("end-123-begin", std::move(f)));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, called);
+    }
+
+    void compileError() const {
+        (void)assertRegex("[", "pcre_compile failed: missing terminating ] for character class");
+    }
+
+    void copy() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("begin.*end");
+
+        int called = 0;
+        int s = -1;
+        int e = -1;
+        auto f = [&](int start, int end) {
+            ++called;
+            s = start;
+            e = end;
+        };
+
+        {
+            // NOLINTNEXTLINE(performance-unnecessary-copy-initialization)
+            auto r2 = r;
+            ASSERT_EQUALS("", r2->match("begin-123-end", f));
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(1, called);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(0, s);
+            ASSERT_EQUALS(13, e);
+        }
+
+        called = 0;
+        s = -1;
+        e = -1;
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("begin-123-end", f));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(13, e);
+    }
+
+    void multimatch() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("info:.*");
+
+        std::string input =
+            "info: start\n"
+            "info: init\n"
+            "warn: missing\n"
+            "warn: invalid\n"
+            "info: done\n"
+            "error: notclean\n";
+
+        std::list<std::string> matches;
+        auto f = [&](int start, int end) {
+            matches.push_back(input.substr(start, end - start));
+        };
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match(input, std::move(f)));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(3, matches.size());
+        auto it = matches.cbegin();
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("info: start", *it);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("info: init", *(++it));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("info: done", *(++it));
+    }
+
+    void partialmatch() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("123");
+        int called = 0;
+        int s = -1;
+        int e = -1;
+        auto f = [&](int start, int end) {
+            ++called;
+            s = start;
+            e = end;
+        };
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("begin-123-end", std::move(f)));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(6, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(9, e);
+    }
+
+    void exactmatch() const {
+        const auto r = assertRegex("^123$");
+
+        int called = 0;
+        int s = -1;
+        int e = -1;
+        auto f = [&](int start, int end) {
+            ++called;
+            s = start;
+            e = end;
+        };
+
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("begin-123-end", f));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, e);
+
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("123\n123", f));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, e);
+
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("123123", f));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, e);
+
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", r->match("123", f));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, called);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(0, s);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(3, e);
+    }
+
+    // TODO: how to provoke a match() error?
+
+#undef assertRegex
+};
+
+REGISTER_TEST(TestRegEx)
+
+#endif // HAVE_RULES
diff --git a/test/testrunner.vcxproj b/test/testrunner.vcxproj
index 8e1ce01f07e..f26bb8ab96e 100755
--- a/test/testrunner.vcxproj
+++ b/test/testrunner.vcxproj
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
     <ClCompile Include="testpreprocessor.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="testprocessexecutor.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="testprogrammemory.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="testregex.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="testsettings.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="testsimplifytemplate.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="testsimplifytokens.cpp" />