diff --git a/NmapOps.h b/NmapOps.h
index 5f800e29c..07ec4bbed 100644
--- a/NmapOps.h
+++ b/NmapOps.h
@@ -324,6 +324,7 @@ class NmapOps {
 
 #ifndef NOLUA
   int script;
+  char *scriptargs;
   int scriptversion;
   int scripttrace;
   int scriptupdatedb;
diff --git a/nmap.cc b/nmap.cc
index 917e2aaac..9af8e31d7 100644
--- a/nmap.cc
+++ b/nmap.cc
@@ -626,6 +626,7 @@ int nmap_main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
       {"script_trace", no_argument, 0, 0},
       {"script-updatedb", no_argument, 0, 0},
       {"script_updatedb", no_argument, 0, 0},
+	  {"script-args",required_argument,0,0},
 #endif
       {"ip_options", required_argument, 0, 0},
       {"ip-options", required_argument, 0, 0},
@@ -654,7 +655,9 @@ int nmap_main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	if (strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "script") == 0) {
 		o.script = 1;
 		o.chooseScripts(optarg);
-	} else if (optcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "script-trace") == 0) {
+	} else if(strcmp(long_options[option_index].name,"script-args")==0){
+		o.scriptargs=strdup(optarg);
+	}else if (optcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "script-trace") == 0) {
 		o.scripttrace = 1;
 	} else if (optcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "script-updatedb") == 0){
 		o.scriptupdatedb = 1;
diff --git a/nse_init.cc b/nse_init.cc
index b31115c79..c522f3a34 100644
--- a/nse_init.cc
+++ b/nse_init.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 int init_setlualibpath(lua_State* l);
+int init_parseargs(lua_State* l);
 int init_loadfile(lua_State* l, char* filename);
 int init_loaddir(lua_State* l, char* dirname);
 int init_loadcategories(lua_State* l, std::vector<std::string> categories, std::vector<std::string> &unusedTags);
@@ -59,7 +60,8 @@ int init_lua(lua_State* l) {
 	SCRIPT_ENGINE_TRY(set_nmaplib(l));
 	lua_setglobal(l, "nmap");
 	SCRIPT_ENGINE_TRY(init_setlualibpath(l));
-
+	/* add the provided commandline args to the registry */
+	SCRIPT_ENGINE_TRY(init_parseargs(l));
 	return SCRIPT_ENGINE_SUCCESS;
 }
 
@@ -114,6 +116,58 @@ int init_setlualibpath(lua_State* l){
 	return SCRIPT_ENGINE_SUCCESS;
 }
 
+int init_parseargs(lua_State* l){
+	const char* tmp;
+	std::string processed_args = std::string("nmap.registry.args={");
+	//try the easy way:
+	if(o.scriptargs==NULL){ //if no arguments are provided we're done
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_SUCCESS;
+	}
+	//prepare passed string for loading
+	lua_getglobal(l,"string");
+	lua_getfield(l,-1,"gsub");
+	lua_pushvalue(l,-1);
+	lua_pushstring(l,o.scriptargs);
+	lua_pushstring(l,"=([^{},$]+)");
+	lua_pushstring(l,"=\"%1\"");
+	if(lua_pcall(l,3,1,0)!=0){
+		error("error parsing --script-args");
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_ERROR;
+	}
+	processed_args.append(lua_tostring(l,-1));
+	lua_pushstring(l,"%b{}");
+	lua_pushstring(l,"");
+	if(lua_pcall(l,3,1,0)!=0){
+		error("error parsing --script-args");
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_ERROR;
+	}
+	tmp=lua_tostring(l,-1);
+	lua_getfield(l,-2,"find");
+	lua_pushvalue(l,-2);
+	lua_pushstring(l,"[{}]");
+	if(lua_pcall(l,2,1,0)!=0){
+		error("error parsing --script-args");
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_ERROR;
+	}
+	if(!lua_isnil(l,-1)){
+		error("unbalanced brackets inside script-options!!\n");
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_ERROR;
+	}
+	processed_args.push_back('}');
+	lua_settop(l,0); //clear stack
+
+	tmp = processed_args.c_str();
+	luaL_loadbuffer(l,tmp,strlen(tmp),"Script-Arguments");
+	if(lua_pcall(l,0,0,0)!=0){
+		error("error loading --script-args: %s",lua_tostring(l,-1));
+		return SCRIPT_ENGINE_ERROR;
+	}
+	//lua_getglobal(l,"nmap");
+	//l_dumpStack(l);
+
+	return SCRIPT_ENGINE_SUCCESS;
+}
+
 /* if there were no command line arguments specifying
  * which scripts should be run, a default script set is
  * chosen
diff --git a/nse_nsock.cc b/nse_nsock.cc
index 9d72425db..84db1d681 100644
--- a/nse_nsock.cc
+++ b/nse_nsock.cc
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 #include "nse_macros.h"
 #include "nse_string.h"
 
+#include "nse_debug.h"
+
 #include "nsock.h"
 #include "nmap_error.h"
 #include "NmapOps.h"
@@ -20,6 +22,9 @@
 #define NSOCK_WRAPPER_SUCCESS		0 
 #define NSOCK_WRAPPER_ERROR		2 
 
+#define NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK 1
+#define NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_MOREREAD 2
+
 #define FROM 	1
 #define TO 	2
 
@@ -40,10 +45,14 @@ static int l_nsock_get_info(lua_State* l);
 static int l_nsock_gc(lua_State* l);
 static int l_nsock_close(lua_State* l);
 static int l_nsock_set_timeout(lua_State* l);
+static int l_nsock_receive_buf(lua_State* l);
 
 void l_nsock_connect_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state);
 void l_nsock_send_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state);
 void l_nsock_receive_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state);
+void l_nsock_receive_buf_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state);
+
+int l_nsock_check_buf(lua_State* l);
 
 int l_nsock_checkstatus(lua_State* l, nsock_event nse);
 
@@ -57,6 +66,7 @@ static luaL_reg l_nsock [] = {
 	{"receive", l_nsock_receive},
 	{"receive_lines", l_nsock_receive_lines},
 	{"receive_bytes", l_nsock_receive_bytes},
+	{"receive_buf", l_nsock_receive_buf},
 	{"get_info", l_nsock_get_info},
 	{"close", l_nsock_close},
 	{"set_timeout", l_nsock_set_timeout},
@@ -70,8 +80,13 @@ struct l_nsock_udata {
 	int timeout;
 	nsock_iod nsiod;
 	void *ssl_session;
+	/*used for buffered reading */
+	int bufidx; /*index inside lua's registry */
+	int bufused;
 };
 
+void l_nsock_clear_buf(lua_State* l, l_nsock_udata* udata);
+
 int l_nsock_open(lua_State* l) {
 	auxiliar_newclass(l, "nsock", l_nsock);
 
@@ -90,6 +105,8 @@ int l_nsock_new(lua_State* l) {
 	udata->nsiod = NULL;
 	udata->ssl_session = NULL;
 	udata->timeout = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
+	udata->bufidx = LUA_NOREF;
+	udata->bufused= 0;
 	return 1;
 }
 
@@ -135,6 +152,7 @@ static int l_nsock_connect(lua_State* l) {
 	struct addrinfo *dest;
 	int error_id;
 	
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
 
 	error_id = getaddrinfo(addr, NULL, NULL, &dest);
 	if (error_id) {
@@ -201,6 +219,8 @@ static int l_nsock_send(lua_State* l) {
 	const char* string = luaL_checkstring(l, 2);
 	size_t string_len = lua_objlen (l, 2);
 	char* hexified;
+	
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l,udata); 
 
 	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
 		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
@@ -230,6 +250,7 @@ void l_nsock_send_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state) {
 
 static int l_nsock_receive(lua_State* l) {
 	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
 
 	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
 		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
@@ -246,6 +267,8 @@ static int l_nsock_receive_lines(lua_State* l) {
 	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
 	int nlines = (int) luaL_checknumber(l, 2);
 
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
+	
 	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
 		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
 		lua_pushstring(l, "Trying to receive lines through a closed socket\n");
@@ -260,6 +283,8 @@ static int l_nsock_receive_lines(lua_State* l) {
 static int l_nsock_receive_bytes(lua_State* l) {
 	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
 	int nbytes = (int) luaL_checknumber(l, 2);
+	
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
 
 	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
 		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
@@ -402,6 +427,8 @@ static int l_nsock_gc(lua_State* l){
 }
 static int l_nsock_close(lua_State* l) {
 	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
+	
+	l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
 
 	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
 		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
@@ -436,3 +463,182 @@ static int l_nsock_set_timeout(lua_State* l) {
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/* buffered I/O */
+static int l_nsock_receive_buf(lua_State* l) {
+	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
+	if(lua_gettop(l)==2){ 
+		/*we were called with 2 arguments only - push the default third one*/
+		lua_pushboolean(l,true);
+	}
+	if(udata->nsiod == NULL) {
+		lua_pushboolean(l, false);
+		lua_pushstring(l, "Trying to receive through a closed socket\n");
+		return 2;	
+	}
+	if(udata->bufused==0){
+		lua_pushstring(l,"");
+		udata->bufidx = luaL_ref(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX);
+		udata->bufused=1;
+		nsock_read(nsp, udata->nsiod, l_nsock_receive_buf_handler, udata->timeout, l);
+	}else if(udata->bufused==-1){ /*error message is inside the buffer*/
+		lua_pushboolean(l,false); 
+		lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx);
+		return 2;
+	}else{ /*buffer contains already some data */
+		/*we keep track here of how many calls to receive_buf are made */
+		udata->bufused++; 
+		if(l_nsock_check_buf(l)==NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_MOREREAD){
+			/*if we didn't have enough data in the buffer another nsock_read()
+			 * was scheduled - its callback will put us in running state again
+			 */
+			return lua_yield(l,3);
+		}
+		return 2;
+	}
+	/*yielding with 3 arguments since we need them when the callback arrives */
+	return lua_yield(l, 3);
+}
+
+void l_nsock_receive_buf_handler(nsock_pool nsp, nsock_event nse, void *lua_state) {
+	lua_State* l = (lua_State*) lua_state;
+	char* rcvd_string;
+	int rcvd_len = 0;
+	char* hexified;
+	int tmpidx;
+	l_nsock_udata* udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
+	if(l_nsock_checkstatus(l, nse) == NSOCK_WRAPPER_SUCCESS) {
+		
+		//l_nsock_checkstatus pushes true on the stack in case of success
+		// we do this on our own here
+		lua_pop(l,1);
+
+		rcvd_string = nse_readbuf(nse, &rcvd_len);
+		
+		if(o.scriptTrace()) {
+			hexified = nse_hexify((const void*) rcvd_string, (size_t) rcvd_len);
+			l_nsock_trace(nse_iod(nse), hexified, FROM);
+			free(hexified);
+		}
+		/* push the buffer and what we received from nsock on the stack and
+		 * concatenate both*/
+		lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx);
+		lua_pushlstring(l, rcvd_string, rcvd_len);
+		lua_concat (l, 2);
+		luaL_unref(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx);
+		udata->bufidx = luaL_ref(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX);
+		if(l_nsock_check_buf(l)==NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_MOREREAD){
+		/*if there wasn't enough data in the buffer and we've issued another
+		 * nsock_read() the next callback will schedule the script for running
+		 */
+			return;
+		}
+		process_waiting2running((lua_State*) lua_state, 2);
+	} else {
+		if(udata->bufused>1){ 
+		/*error occured after we read into some data into the buffer
+		 * behave as if there was no error and push the rest of the buffer 
+		 * and clean the buffer afterwards
+		 */
+			/*save the error message inside the buffer*/
+			tmpidx=luaL_ref(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX); 
+			/*pop the status (==false) of the stack*/
+			lua_pop(l,1);
+			lua_pushboolean(l, true);
+			lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx);
+			l_nsock_clear_buf(l, udata);
+			udata->bufidx=tmpidx;
+			udata->bufused=-1;
+			process_waiting2running((lua_State*) lua_state, 2);
+		}else{ /*buffer should be empty */
+			process_waiting2running((lua_State*) lua_state, 2);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+int l_nsock_check_buf(lua_State* l ){
+	l_nsock_udata* udata;
+	size_t startpos, endpos, bufsize;
+	const char *tmpbuf;
+	int tmpidx;
+	int keeppattern;
+	/*should we return the string including the pattern or without it */
+	keeppattern= lua_toboolean(l,-1);
+	lua_pop(l,1);
+	udata = (l_nsock_udata*) auxiliar_checkclass(l, "nsock", 1);
+	if(lua_isfunction(l,2)){
+		lua_pushvalue(l,2);
+		lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx); /* the buffer is the only argument to the function */
+		if(lua_pcall(l,1,2,0)!=0){
+			lua_pushboolean(l,false);
+			lua_pushfstring(l,"Error inside splitting-function: %s\n", lua_tostring(l,-1));
+			return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK;
+			//luaL_error(l,"Error inside splitting-function, given as argument to nsockobj:receive_buf: %s\n", lua_tostring(l,-1));
+		}
+	}else if(lua_isstring(l,2)){
+		lua_getglobal(l,"string");
+		lua_getfield(l,-1,"find");
+		lua_remove(l, -2); /*drop the string-table, since we don't need it! */
+		lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx); 
+		lua_pushvalue(l,2); /*the pattern we are searching for */
+		if(lua_pcall(l,2,2,0)!=0){
+			lua_pushboolean(l,false);
+			lua_pushstring(l,"error in string.find (nsockobj:receive_buf)!");
+			return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK;
+		}
+	}else{
+			lua_pushboolean(l,false);
+			lua_pushstring(l,"expected either a function or a string!");
+			return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK;
+			//luaL_argerror(l,2,"expected either a function or a string!");
+	}
+	/*the stack contains on top the indices where we want to seperate */
+	if(lua_isnil(l,-1)){ /*not found anything try to read more data*/
+		lua_pop(l,2);
+		nsock_read(nsp, udata->nsiod, l_nsock_receive_buf_handler, udata->timeout, l);
+		lua_pushboolean(l,keeppattern);
+		return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_MOREREAD;
+	}else{
+		startpos = (size_t) lua_tointeger(l, -2);
+		endpos = (size_t) lua_tointeger(l, -1);
+		lua_settop(l,0); /* clear the stack for returning */
+		if(startpos>endpos){
+			lua_pushboolean(l,false);
+			lua_pushstring(l,"delimter has negative size!");
+			return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK;
+		}else if(startpos==endpos){
+			/* if the delimter has a size of zero we keep it, since otherwise 
+			 * retured string would be trucated
+			 */
+			keeppattern=1; 
+		}
+		lua_settop(l,0); /* clear the stack for returning */
+		lua_rawgeti(l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx); 
+		tmpbuf = lua_tolstring(l, -1, &bufsize);
+		lua_pop(l,1); /* pop the buffer off the stack, should be safe since it 
+		it is still in the registry */
+		if(tmpbuf==NULL){
+		 fatal("%s: In: %s:%i The buffer is not a string?! - please report this to nmap-dev@insecure.org.", SCRIPT_ENGINE, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+		}
+		/*first push the remains of the buffer */
+		lua_pushlstring(l,tmpbuf+endpos,(bufsize-endpos));
+		tmpidx = luaL_ref(l,LUA_REGISTRYINDEX);
+		lua_pushboolean(l,true);
+		if(keeppattern){
+			lua_pushlstring(l,tmpbuf,endpos);
+		}else{
+			lua_pushlstring(l,tmpbuf,startpos-1);
+		}
+		luaL_unref(l,LUA_REGISTRYINDEX,udata->bufidx);
+		udata->bufidx=tmpidx;
+		l_dumpStack(l);
+		return NSOCK_WRAPPER_BUFFER_OK;
+	}
+	assert(0);
+	return 1;//unreachable
+}
+
+void l_nsock_clear_buf(lua_State* l, l_nsock_udata* udata){
+	luaL_unref (l, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, udata->bufidx); 
+	udata->bufidx=LUA_NOREF;
+	udata->bufused=0;
+}
diff --git a/nselib/match.lua b/nselib/match.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba3a866ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nselib/match.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+-- See nmaps COPYING for licence
+module(...,  package.seeall)
+require "pcre"
+
+--various functions for use with nse's nsock:receive_buf - function
+
+-- e.g. 
+-- sock:receivebuf(regex("myregexpattern")) - does a match using pcre- regular-
+--                                          - expressions
+-- sock:receivebuf(numbytes(80)) - is the buffered version of 
+--                                 sock:receive_bytes(80) - i.e. it returns
+--                                 exactly 80 bytes and no more 
+regex = function(pattern)
+	local r = pcre.new(pattern, 0,"C")
+
+	return function(buf)
+		s,e = r:exec(buf, 0,0);
+		return s,e
+	end
+end
+
+numbytes = function(num)
+	local n = num
+	return function(buf)
+		if(string.len(buf) >=n) then
+			return n, n
+		end
+		return nil
+	end
+end
+