Untested, so may contain typos: 
m{\Q[ref]\E(?:(?!\Q[/ref]\E).)*\Q[/ref]\E} # Simple
m{\Q[ref]\E[^[]*(?:\[(?!\Q/ref]\E)[^[]*)*\Q[/ref]\E} # Some unrolling

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In reply to Re: Regex to match between [ref] and [/ref] by JavaFan
in thread Regex to match between [ref] and [/ref] by ultranerds

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