diff --git a/include/linux/user_namespace.h b/include/linux/user_namespace.h
index 6030a8235617..60b7fe5fa74a 100644
--- a/include/linux/user_namespace.h
+++ b/include/linux/user_namespace.h
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ static inline void set_userns_rlimit_max(struct user_namespace *ns,
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS
 
+extern int unprivileged_userns_clone;
+
 static inline struct user_namespace *get_user_ns(struct user_namespace *ns)
 {
 	if (ns)
@@ -189,6 +191,8 @@ extern bool current_in_userns(const struct user_namespace *target_ns);
 struct ns_common *ns_get_owner(struct ns_common *ns);
 #else
 
+#define unprivileged_userns_clone 0
+
 static inline struct user_namespace *get_user_ns(struct user_namespace *ns)
 {
 	return &init_user_ns;
diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index 5783a0b87517..5ea91114707c 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -1265,6 +1265,22 @@ config USER_NS
 
 	  If unsure, say N.
 
+config USER_NS_UNPRIVILEGED
+	bool "Allow unprivileged users to create namespaces"
+	default y
+	depends on USER_NS
+	help
+	  When disabled, unprivileged users will not be able to create
+	  new namespaces. Allowing users to create their own namespaces
+	  has been part of several recent local privilege escalation
+	  exploits, so if you need user namespaces but are
+	  paranoid^Wsecurity-conscious you want to disable this.
+
+	  This setting can be overridden at runtime via the
+	  kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone sysctl.
+
+	  If unsure, say Y.
+
 config PID_NS
 	bool "PID Namespaces"
 	default y
diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 6b97fb2ac4af..003de4829c15 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@
 #include <uapi/linux/pidfd.h>
 #include <linux/pidfs.h>
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS
+#include <linux/user_namespace.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <asm/pgalloc.h>
 #include <linux/uaccess.h>
 #include <asm/mmu_context.h>
@@ -2135,6 +2139,10 @@ __latent_entropy struct task_struct *copy_process(
 	if ((clone_flags & (CLONE_NEWUSER|CLONE_FS)) == (CLONE_NEWUSER|CLONE_FS))
 		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 
+	if ((clone_flags & CLONE_NEWUSER) && !unprivileged_userns_clone)
+		if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN))
+			return ERR_PTR(-EPERM);
+
 	/*
 	 * Thread groups must share signals as well, and detached threads
 	 * can only be started up within the thread group.
@@ -3283,6 +3291,12 @@ int ksys_unshare(unsigned long unshare_flags)
 	if (unshare_flags & CLONE_NEWNS)
 		unshare_flags |= CLONE_FS;
 
+	if ((unshare_flags & CLONE_NEWUSER) && !unprivileged_userns_clone) {
+		err = -EPERM;
+		if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN))
+			goto bad_unshare_out;
+	}
+
 	err = check_unshare_flags(unshare_flags);
 	if (err)
 		goto bad_unshare_out;
diff --git a/kernel/sysctl.c b/kernel/sysctl.c
index 79e6cb1d5c48..676e89dc38c3 100644
--- a/kernel/sysctl.c
+++ b/kernel/sysctl.c
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@
 #ifdef CONFIG_RT_MUTEXES
 #include <linux/rtmutex.h>
 #endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS
+#include <linux/user_namespace.h>
+#endif
 
 /* shared constants to be used in various sysctls */
 const int sysctl_vals[] = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 100, 200, 1000, 3000, INT_MAX, 65535, -1 };
@@ -1618,6 +1621,15 @@ static struct ctl_table kern_table[] = {
 		.mode		= 0644,
 		.proc_handler	= proc_dointvec,
 	},
+#ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS
+	{
+		.procname	= "unprivileged_userns_clone",
+		.data		= &unprivileged_userns_clone,
+		.maxlen		= sizeof(int),
+		.mode		= 0644,
+		.proc_handler	= proc_dointvec,
+	},
+#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_PROC_SYSCTL
 	{
 		.procname	= "tainted",
diff --git a/kernel/user_namespace.c b/kernel/user_namespace.c
index 0b0b95418b16..c4b835b91fc0 100644
--- a/kernel/user_namespace.c
+++ b/kernel/user_namespace.c
@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@
 #include <linux/bsearch.h>
 #include <linux/sort.h>
 
+/* sysctl */
+#ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS_UNPRIVILEGED
+int unprivileged_userns_clone = 1;
+#else
+int unprivileged_userns_clone;
+#endif
+
 static struct kmem_cache *user_ns_cachep __ro_after_init;
 static DEFINE_MUTEX(userns_state_mutex);