diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f3909ed610c6..10bbc3f233f7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -537,6 +537,14 @@
     ])
     AM_CONDITIONAL([DEBUG_VALIDATION], [test "x$enable_debug_validation" = "xyes"])
 
+  # enable qa-simulation mode -- disabled by default
+    AC_ARG_ENABLE(qa-simulation,
+           AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-qa-simulation], [Enable qa-simulation mode]))
+    AS_IF([test "x$enable_qa_simulation" = "xyes"], [
+        AC_DEFINE([QA_SIMULATION],[1],[Enable qa-simulation mode])
+    ])
+    AM_CONDITIONAL([QA_SIMULATION], [test "x$enable_qa_simulation" = "xyes"])
+
   # profiling support
     AC_ARG_ENABLE(profiling,
            AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-profiling], [Enable performance profiling]),[enable_profiling=$enableval],[enable_profiling=no])
@@ -2642,6 +2650,7 @@ Development settings:
   Unit tests enabled:                      ${enable_unittests}
   Debug output enabled:                    ${enable_debug}
   Debug validation enabled:                ${enable_debug_validation}
+  QA-simulation enabled:                   ${enable_qa_simulation}
   Fuzz targets enabled:                    ${enable_fuzztargets}
 
 Generic build parameters:
diff --git a/src/app-layer-parser.c b/src/app-layer-parser.c
index 0ab84a8269de..812c467d6144 100644
--- a/src/app-layer-parser.c
+++ b/src/app-layer-parser.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2025 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -1373,7 +1373,7 @@ int AppLayerParserParse(ThreadVars *tv, AppLayerParserThreadCtx *alp_tctx, Flow
                 &stream_slice);
         HandleStreamFrames(f, stream_slice, input, input_len, flags);
 
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
         if (((stream_slice.flags & STREAM_TOSERVER) &&
                     stream_slice.offset >= g_eps_applayer_error_offset_ts)) {
             SCLogNotice("putting parser %s into an error state from toserver offset %" PRIu64,
diff --git a/src/defrag-hash.c b/src/defrag-hash.c
index 846c51d3dffd..49dc2b5305fa 100644
--- a/src/defrag-hash.c
+++ b/src/defrag-hash.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ static void DefragExceptionPolicyStatsIncr(
  */
 static DefragTracker *DefragTrackerGetNew(ThreadVars *tv, DecodeThreadVars *dtv, Packet *p)
 {
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     if (g_eps_defrag_memcap != UINT64_MAX && g_eps_defrag_memcap == PcapPacketCntGet(p)) {
         SCLogNotice("simulating memcap hit for packet %" PRIu64, PcapPacketCntGet(p));
         ExceptionPolicyApply(p, defrag_config.memcap_policy, PKT_DROP_REASON_DEFRAG_MEMCAP);
diff --git a/src/detect-engine-alert.c b/src/detect-engine-alert.c
index 15929a8eb3ac..1dcc78f4c86b 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine-alert.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine-alert.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2022 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include "flow.h"
 #include "flow-private.h"
 
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
 #include "util-exception-policy.h"
 #endif
 
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ static inline uint16_t AlertQueueExpandDo(DetectEngineThreadCtx *det_ctx, uint16
  */
 static uint16_t AlertQueueExpand(DetectEngineThreadCtx *det_ctx)
 {
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     if (unlikely(g_eps_is_alert_queue_fail_mode))
         return det_ctx->alert_queue_capacity;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/flow-hash.c b/src/flow-hash.c
index bd35848a1d13..664dce45dae9 100644
--- a/src/flow-hash.c
+++ b/src/flow-hash.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ static inline void NoFlowHandleIPS(ThreadVars *tv, FlowLookupStruct *fls, Packet
 static Flow *FlowGetNew(ThreadVars *tv, FlowLookupStruct *fls, Packet *p)
 {
     const bool emerg = ((SC_ATOMIC_GET(flow_flags) & FLOW_EMERGENCY) != 0);
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     if (g_eps_flow_memcap != UINT64_MAX && g_eps_flow_memcap == PcapPacketCntGet(p)) {
         NoFlowHandleIPS(tv, fls, p);
         StatsCounterIncr(&tv->stats, fls->dtv->counter_flow_memcap);
diff --git a/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c b/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
index 0f3aac98f3f8..e88db6d51547 100644
--- a/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
+++ b/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ void CleanupPcapFileFileVars(PcapFileFileVars *pfv)
 void PcapFileCallbackLoop(char *user, struct pcap_pkthdr *h, u_char *pkt)
 {
     SCEnter();
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     if (unlikely((pcap_g.cnt + 1ULL) == g_eps_pcap_packet_loss)) {
         SCLogNotice("skipping packet %" PRIu64, g_eps_pcap_packet_loss);
         pcap_g.cnt++;
diff --git a/src/stream-tcp-reassemble.c b/src/stream-tcp-reassemble.c
index 6d9efa249d32..06439827ff31 100644
--- a/src/stream-tcp-reassemble.c
+++ b/src/stream-tcp-reassemble.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2007-2024 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@
 static SCMutex segment_pool_memuse_mutex;
 static uint64_t segment_pool_memuse = 0;
 static uint64_t segment_pool_memcnt = 0;
+#endif
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
 thread_local uint64_t t_pcapcnt = UINT64_MAX;
 #endif
 
@@ -162,7 +164,7 @@ uint64_t StreamTcpReassembleMemuseGlobalCounter(void)
  */
 int StreamTcpReassembleCheckMemcap(uint64_t size)
 {
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     if (unlikely((g_eps_stream_reassembly_memcap != UINT64_MAX &&
                   g_eps_stream_reassembly_memcap == t_pcapcnt))) {
         SCLogNotice("simulating memcap reached condition for packet %" PRIu64, t_pcapcnt);
diff --git a/src/stream-tcp.c b/src/stream-tcp.c
index ff6b78130ab4..7b6d0764fc75 100644
--- a/src/stream-tcp.c
+++ b/src/stream-tcp.c
@@ -219,9 +219,9 @@ extern int g_detect_disabled;
 
 PoolThread *ssn_pool = NULL;
 static SCMutex ssn_pool_mutex = SCMUTEX_INITIALIZER; /**< init only, protect initializing and growing pool */
-#ifdef DEBUG
-extern thread_local uint64_t t_pcapcnt;
+#if defined(DEBUG) || defined(QA_SIMULATION)
 static uint64_t ssn_pool_cnt = 0; /** counts ssns, protected by ssn_pool_mutex */
+extern thread_local uint64_t t_pcapcnt;
 #endif
 
 TcpStreamCnf stream_config;
@@ -948,12 +948,12 @@ static TcpSession *StreamTcpNewSession(ThreadVars *tv, StreamTcpThread *stt, Pac
 #endif
                     StatsCounterIncr(&tv->stats, stt->counter_tcp_ssn_from_pool);
         }
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#if defined(DEBUG) || defined(QA_SIMULATION)
         SCMutexLock(&ssn_pool_mutex);
         if (p->flow->protoctx != NULL)
             ssn_pool_cnt++;
         SCMutexUnlock(&ssn_pool_mutex);
-
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
         if (unlikely((g_eps_stream_ssn_memcap != UINT64_MAX &&
                       g_eps_stream_ssn_memcap == t_pcapcnt))) {
             SCLogNotice("simulating memcap reached condition for packet %" PRIu64, t_pcapcnt);
@@ -961,6 +961,7 @@ static TcpSession *StreamTcpNewSession(ThreadVars *tv, StreamTcpThread *stt, Pac
             StreamTcpSsnMemcapExceptionPolicyStatsIncr(tv, stt, stream_config.ssn_memcap_policy);
             return NULL;
         }
+#endif
 #endif
         ssn = (TcpSession *)p->flow->protoctx;
         if (ssn == NULL) {
@@ -6120,9 +6121,9 @@ TmEcode StreamTcp (ThreadVars *tv, Packet *p, void *data, PacketQueueNoLock *pq)
                     : "noflow",
             PktSrcToString(p->pkt_src));
 
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
     t_pcapcnt = PcapPacketCntGet(p);
-#endif /* DEBUG */
+#endif
 
     if (!(PacketIsTCP(p))) {
         return TM_ECODE_OK;
diff --git a/src/suricata.c b/src/suricata.c
index 903d8abd05e6..a4830d431318 100644
--- a/src/suricata.c
+++ b/src/suricata.c
@@ -751,6 +751,7 @@ static void PrintBuildInfo(void)
 {
     const char *bits;
     const char *endian;
+    /* If all current features are enabled, features string would be 341 characters long */
     char features[2048] = "";
     const char *tls;
 
@@ -761,6 +762,9 @@ static void PrintBuildInfo(void)
 #ifdef DEBUG_VALIDATION
     strlcat(features, "DEBUG_VALIDATION ", sizeof(features));
 #endif
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
+    strlcat(features, "QA_SIMULATION ", sizeof(features));
+#endif
 #ifdef UNITTESTS
     strlcat(features, "UNITTESTS ", sizeof(features));
 #endif
diff --git a/src/util-exception-policy.c b/src/util-exception-policy.c
index 9befaf6c6b52..4276636fb248 100644
--- a/src/util-exception-policy.c
+++ b/src/util-exception-policy.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2022-2025 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2022-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ void ExceptionPolicySetStatsCounters(ThreadVars *tv, ExceptionPolicyCounters *co
     }
 }
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
+#ifndef QA_SIMULATION
 
 int ExceptionSimulationCommandLineParser(const char *name, const char *arg)
 {
diff --git a/src/util-exception-policy.h b/src/util-exception-policy.h
index 9d3dcc4260d6..7f94a9f8eda3 100644
--- a/src/util-exception-policy.h
+++ b/src/util-exception-policy.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2022-2025 Open Information Security Foundation
+/* Copyright (C) 2022-2026 Open Information Security Foundation
  *
  * You can copy, redistribute or modify this Program under the terms of
  * the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ void ExceptionPolicySetStatsCounters(ThreadVars *tv, ExceptionPolicyCounters *co
         const char *default_str, bool (*isExceptionPolicyValid)(enum ExceptionPolicy));
 
 extern enum ExceptionPolicy g_eps_master_switch;
-#ifdef DEBUG
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
 extern uint64_t g_eps_applayer_error_offset_ts;
 extern uint64_t g_eps_applayer_error_offset_tc;
 extern uint64_t g_eps_pcap_packet_loss;