diff --git a/fs/xattr.c b/fs/xattr.c
index 395635100f77a45784057546b0a0c4a490b03249..0901bdc2ce24f43d8ca1a62f3cee4c8519e0b21f 100644
--- a/fs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/xattr.c
@@ -48,14 +48,21 @@ xattr_permission(struct inode *inode, const char *name, int mask)
 		return 0;
 
 	/*
-	 * The trusted.* namespace can only accessed by a privilegued user.
+	 * The trusted.* namespace can only be accessed by a privileged user.
 	 */
 	if (!strncmp(name, XATTR_TRUSTED_PREFIX, XATTR_TRUSTED_PREFIX_LEN))
 		return (capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN) ? 0 : -EPERM);
 
+	/* In user.* namespace, only regular files and directories can have
+	 * extended attributes. For sticky directories, only the owner and
+	 * privileged user can write attributes.
+	 */
 	if (!strncmp(name, XATTR_USER_PREFIX, XATTR_USER_PREFIX_LEN)) {
-		if (!S_ISREG(inode->i_mode) &&
-		    (!S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) || inode->i_mode & S_ISVTX))
+		if (!S_ISREG(inode->i_mode) && !S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode))
+			return -EPERM;
+		if (S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) && (inode->i_mode & S_ISVTX) &&
+		    (mask & MAY_WRITE) && (current->fsuid != inode->i_uid) &&
+		    !capable(CAP_FOWNER))
 			return -EPERM;
 	}