diff --git a/NOTICE.txt b/NOTICE.txt
index c1db5735bb2..1138e580bfc 100644
--- a/NOTICE.txt
+++ b/NOTICE.txt
@@ -573,11 +573,11 @@ Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/elastic/apm-data@v1.6.0
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Dependency : github.com/elastic/beats/v7
-Version: v7.0.0-alpha2.0.20240628125655-5323dc625833
+Version: v7.0.0-alpha2.0.20240701143943-cb0900496952
 Licence type (autodetected): Elastic
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/elastic/beats/v7@v7.0.0-alpha2.0.20240628125655-5323dc625833/LICENSE.txt:
+Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/elastic/beats/v7@v7.0.0-alpha2.0.20240701143943-cb0900496952/LICENSE.txt:
 
 Source code in this repository is variously licensed under the Apache License
 Version 2.0, an Apache compatible license, or the Elastic License. Outside of
@@ -2342,11 +2342,11 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Dependency : github.com/gofrs/flock
-Version: v0.9.0
+Version: v0.11.0
 Licence type (autodetected): BSD-3-Clause
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/gofrs/flock@v0.9.0/LICENSE:
+Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/gofrs/flock@v0.11.0/LICENSE:
 
 Copyright (c) 2018-2024, The Gofrs
 Copyright (c) 2015-2020, Tim Heckman
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 39dfb35fa36..29c99453049 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ x-logging: &default-logging
     max-size: "1g"
 services:
   elasticsearch:
-    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
     ports:
       - 9200:9200
     healthcheck:
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ services:
     logging: *default-logging
 
   kibana:
-    image: docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+    image: docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
     ports:
       - 5601:5601
     healthcheck:
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ services:
     logging: *default-logging
 
   metricbeat:
-    image: docker.elastic.co/beats/metricbeat:8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+    image: docker.elastic.co/beats/metricbeat:8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
     environment:
       ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS: '["http://elasticsearch:9200"]'
       ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME: "${KIBANA_ES_USER:-admin}"
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 6dac6813e94..686d018a281 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/elastic/go-sysinfo v1.14.0
 	github.com/elastic/go-ucfg v0.8.8
 	github.com/go-sourcemap/sourcemap v2.1.4+incompatible
-	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.9.0
+	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0
 	github.com/gofrs/uuid v4.4.0+incompatible
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index cda3ca88052..63b2a555368 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -192,8 +192,8 @@ github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.22.3 h1:yMBqmnQ0gyZvEb/+KzuWZOXgllrXT4SADYbvDaXHv/
 github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.22.3/go.mod h1:UzaqsxGiab7freDnrUUra0MwWfN/q7tE4j+VcZ0yl14=
 github.com/go-sourcemap/sourcemap v2.1.4+incompatible h1:a+iTbH5auLKxaNwQFg0B+TCYl6lbukKPc7b5x0n1s6Q=
 github.com/go-sourcemap/sourcemap v2.1.4+incompatible/go.mod h1:F8jJfvm2KbVjc5NqelyYJmf/v5J0dwNLS2mL4sNA1Jg=
-github.com/gofrs/flock v0.9.0 h1:QqEH0zKHPdEyY4YbJLleD9Il4ft7h6hn3gECO6Ss4rQ=
-github.com/gofrs/flock v0.9.0/go.mod h1:O+L78Axre/Bc0Ya3RlNiGP+Rt0tFHWjtHTQ+B2uPZw8=
+github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0 h1:AGFQxrpWd8ezw60AvLWIPbxMydNfF8564pwH3FCty0g=
+github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0/go.mod h1:FirDy1Ing0mI2+kB6wk+vyyAH+e6xiE+EYA0jnzV9jc=
 github.com/gofrs/uuid v4.4.0+incompatible h1:3qXRTX8/NbyulANqlc0lchS1gqAVxRgsuW1YrTJupqA=
 github.com/gofrs/uuid v4.4.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:b2aQJv3Z4Fp6yNu3cdSllBxTCLRxnplIgP/c0N/04lM=
 github.com/gogo/googleapis v1.4.1 h1:1Yx4Myt7BxzvUr5ldGSbwYiZG6t9wGBZ+8/fX3Wvtq0=
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
index 23eec94273e..d3f70b1e178 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: ApmServer
 metadata:
   name: apm-server
 spec:
-  version: 8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+  version: 8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
   count: 1
   http:
     tls:
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
index bbe921acb1a..a9207f6b26a 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Elasticsearch
 metadata:
   name: elasticsearch
 spec:
-  version: 8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+  version: 8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
   auth:
     fileRealm:
       - secretName: elasticsearch-admin
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
index e8b0969cdb5..0806c42c834 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Kibana
 metadata:
   name: kibana
 spec:
-  version: 8.15.0-af44b0a5-SNAPSHOT
+  version: 8.15.0-5d6d1bc4-SNAPSHOT
   count: 1
   elasticsearchRef:
     name: elasticsearch
diff --git a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/eventstorage/storage.go b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/eventstorage/storage.go
index 84caed3302b..9f7d4fc2d69 100644
--- a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/eventstorage/storage.go
+++ b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/eventstorage/storage.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package eventstorage
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -162,12 +163,17 @@ func (rw *ReadWriter) IsTraceSampled(traceID string) (bool, error) {
 // WriteTraceEvent may return before the write is committed to storage.
 // Call Flush to ensure the write is committed.
 func (rw *ReadWriter) WriteTraceEvent(traceID string, id string, event *modelpb.APMEvent, opts WriterOpts) error {
-	key := append(append([]byte(traceID), ':'), id...)
 	data, err := rw.s.codec.EncodeEvent(event)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return rw.writeEntry(badger.NewEntry(key[:], data).WithMeta(entryMetaTraceEvent), opts)
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	buf.Grow(len(traceID) + 1 + len(id))
+	buf.WriteString(traceID)
+	buf.WriteByte(':')
+	buf.WriteString(id)
+	key := buf.Bytes()
+	return rw.writeEntry(badger.NewEntry(key, data).WithMeta(entryMetaTraceEvent), opts)
 }
 
 func (rw *ReadWriter) writeEntry(e *badger.Entry, opts WriterOpts) error {
@@ -242,7 +248,13 @@ func estimateSize(e *badger.Entry) int64 {
 
 // DeleteTraceEvent deletes the trace event from storage.
 func (rw *ReadWriter) DeleteTraceEvent(traceID, id string) error {
-	key := append(append([]byte(traceID), ':'), id...)
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	buf.Grow(len(traceID) + 1 + len(id))
+	buf.WriteString(traceID)
+	buf.WriteByte(':')
+	buf.WriteString(id)
+	key := buf.Bytes()
+
 	err := rw.txn.Delete(key)
 	// If the transaction is already too big to accommodate the new entry, flush
 	// the existing transaction and set the entry on a new one, otherwise,
@@ -288,16 +300,16 @@ func (rw *ReadWriter) ReadTraceEvents(traceID string, out *modelpb.Batch) error
 		}
 		switch item.UserMeta() {
 		case entryMetaTraceEvent:
-			var event modelpb.APMEvent
+			event := modelpb.APMEventFromVTPool()
 			if err := item.Value(func(data []byte) error {
-				if err := rw.s.codec.DecodeEvent(data, &event); err != nil {
+				if err := rw.s.codec.DecodeEvent(data, event); err != nil {
 					return fmt.Errorf("codec failed to decode event: %w", err)
 				}
 				return nil
 			}); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			*out = append(*out, &event)
+			*out = append(*out, event)
 		default:
 			// Unknown entry meta: ignore.
 			continue
diff --git a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor.go b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor.go
index 24121d8e473..94b3ae3df99 100644
--- a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor.go
+++ b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor.go
@@ -473,6 +473,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Run() error {
 		}
 	})
 	g.Go(func() error {
+		var events modelpb.Batch
 		// TODO(axw) pace the publishing over the flush interval?
 		// Alternatively we can rely on backpressure from the reporter,
 		// removing the artificial one second timeout from publisher code
@@ -510,7 +511,8 @@ func (p *Processor) Run() error {
 					"received error writing sampled trace: %s", err,
 				)
 			}
-			var events modelpb.Batch
+
+			events = events[:0]
 			if err := p.eventStore.ReadTraceEvents(traceID, &events); err != nil {
 				p.rateLimitedLogger.Warnf(
 					"received error reading trace events: %s", err,
@@ -543,6 +545,11 @@ func (p *Processor) Run() error {
 				if err := p.config.BatchProcessor.ProcessBatch(gracefulContext, &events); err != nil {
 					p.logger.With(logp.Error(err)).Warn("failed to report events")
 				}
+
+				for i := range events {
+					events[i].ReturnToVTPool()
+					events[i] = nil // not required but ensure that there is no ref to the freed event
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	})
diff --git a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor_test.go b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor_test.go
index 1db15eceb91..f17500da501 100644
--- a/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor_test.go
+++ b/x-pack/apm-server/sampling/processor_test.go
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ func TestProcessRemoteTailSampling(t *testing.T) {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return ctx.Err()
-		case reported <- *batch:
+		case reported <- batch.Clone():
 			return nil
 		}
 	})