Merge release-20200810.0-23-g47515f475 (automated)

35 files changed, 723 insertions, 521 deletions

diff --git a/pkg/abi/linux/linux_abi_autogen_unsafe.go b/pkg/abi/linux/linux_abi_autogen_unsafe.go
index c37a0e2c9..501fa3ec3 100644
--- a/pkg/abi/linux/linux_abi_autogen_unsafe.go
+++ b/pkg/abi/linux/linux_abi_autogen_unsafe.go
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func (s *Statx) UnmarshalBytes(src []byte) {
 // Packed implements marshal.Marshallable.Packed.
 //go:nosplit
 func (s *Statx) Packed() bool {
-    return s.Ctime.Packed() && s.Mtime.Packed() && s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed()
+    return s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() && s.Mtime.Packed()
 }
 
 // MarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.MarshalUnsafe.
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ func (s *Statx) UnmarshalUnsafe(src []byte) {
 // CopyOutN implements marshal.Marshallable.CopyOutN.
 //go:nosplit
 func (s *Statx) CopyOutN(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr, limit int) (int, error) {
-    if !s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() && s.Mtime.Packed() {
+    if !s.Mtime.Packed() && s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() {
         // Type Statx doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to MarshalBytes.
         buf := task.CopyScratchBuffer(s.SizeBytes()) // escapes: okay.
         s.MarshalBytes(buf) // escapes: fallback.
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ func (s *Statx) CopyOut(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
 // CopyIn implements marshal.Marshallable.CopyIn.
 //go:nosplit
 func (s *Statx) CopyIn(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
-    if !s.Mtime.Packed() && s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() {
+    if !s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() && s.Mtime.Packed() {
         // Type Statx doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to UnmarshalBytes.
         buf := task.CopyScratchBuffer(s.SizeBytes()) // escapes: okay.
         length, err := task.CopyInBytes(addr, buf) // escapes: okay.
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ func (s *Statx) CopyIn(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
 
 // WriteTo implements io.WriterTo.WriteTo.
 func (s *Statx) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
-    if !s.Mtime.Packed() && s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() {
+    if !s.Atime.Packed() && s.Btime.Packed() && s.Ctime.Packed() && s.Mtime.Packed() {
         // Type Statx doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to MarshalBytes.
         buf := make([]byte, s.SizeBytes())
         s.MarshalBytes(buf)
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ func (f *FUSEHeaderIn) MarshalUnsafe(dst []byte) {
 
 // UnmarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.UnmarshalUnsafe.
 func (f *FUSEHeaderIn) UnmarshalUnsafe(src []byte) {
-    if f.Unique.Packed() && f.Opcode.Packed() {
+    if f.Opcode.Packed() && f.Unique.Packed() {
         safecopy.CopyOut(unsafe.Pointer(f), src)
     } else {
         // Type FUSEHeaderIn doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fallback to UnmarshalBytes.
@@ -2020,7 +2020,7 @@ func (i *IPTEntry) UnmarshalBytes(src []byte) {
 // Packed implements marshal.Marshallable.Packed.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IPTEntry) Packed() bool {
-    return i.Counters.Packed() && i.IP.Packed()
+    return i.IP.Packed() && i.Counters.Packed()
 }
 
 // MarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.MarshalUnsafe.
@@ -2208,12 +2208,12 @@ func (i *IPTIP) UnmarshalBytes(src []byte) {
 // Packed implements marshal.Marshallable.Packed.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IPTIP) Packed() bool {
-    return i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed()
+    return i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed()
 }
 
 // MarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.MarshalUnsafe.
 func (i *IPTIP) MarshalUnsafe(dst []byte) {
-    if i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() {
+    if i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() {
         safecopy.CopyIn(dst, unsafe.Pointer(i))
     } else {
         // Type IPTIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fallback to MarshalBytes.
@@ -2290,7 +2290,7 @@ func (i *IPTIP) CopyIn(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
 
 // WriteTo implements io.WriterTo.WriteTo.
 func (i *IPTIP) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
-    if !i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() {
+    if !i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() {
         // Type IPTIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to MarshalBytes.
         buf := make([]byte, i.SizeBytes())
         i.MarshalBytes(buf)
@@ -2999,7 +2999,7 @@ func (i *IP6TEntry) UnmarshalBytes(src []byte) {
 // Packed implements marshal.Marshallable.Packed.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IP6TEntry) Packed() bool {
-    return i.IPv6.Packed() && i.Counters.Packed()
+    return i.Counters.Packed() && i.IPv6.Packed()
 }
 
 // MarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.MarshalUnsafe.
@@ -3196,12 +3196,12 @@ func (i *IP6TIP) UnmarshalBytes(src []byte) {
 // Packed implements marshal.Marshallable.Packed.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IP6TIP) Packed() bool {
-    return i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed()
+    return i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed()
 }
 
 // MarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.MarshalUnsafe.
 func (i *IP6TIP) MarshalUnsafe(dst []byte) {
-    if i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() {
+    if i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() {
         safecopy.CopyIn(dst, unsafe.Pointer(i))
     } else {
         // Type IP6TIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fallback to MarshalBytes.
@@ -3211,7 +3211,7 @@ func (i *IP6TIP) MarshalUnsafe(dst []byte) {
 
 // UnmarshalUnsafe implements marshal.Marshallable.UnmarshalUnsafe.
 func (i *IP6TIP) UnmarshalUnsafe(src []byte) {
-    if i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() {
+    if i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() {
         safecopy.CopyOut(unsafe.Pointer(i), src)
     } else {
         // Type IP6TIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fallback to UnmarshalBytes.
@@ -3222,7 +3222,7 @@ func (i *IP6TIP) UnmarshalUnsafe(src []byte) {
 // CopyOutN implements marshal.Marshallable.CopyOutN.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IP6TIP) CopyOutN(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr, limit int) (int, error) {
-    if !i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() {
+    if !i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() {
         // Type IP6TIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to MarshalBytes.
         buf := task.CopyScratchBuffer(i.SizeBytes()) // escapes: okay.
         i.MarshalBytes(buf) // escapes: fallback.
@@ -3252,7 +3252,7 @@ func (i *IP6TIP) CopyOut(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
 // CopyIn implements marshal.Marshallable.CopyIn.
 //go:nosplit
 func (i *IP6TIP) CopyIn(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
-    if !i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() {
+    if !i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() {
         // Type IP6TIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to UnmarshalBytes.
         buf := task.CopyScratchBuffer(i.SizeBytes()) // escapes: okay.
         length, err := task.CopyInBytes(addr, buf) // escapes: okay.
@@ -3278,7 +3278,7 @@ func (i *IP6TIP) CopyIn(task marshal.Task, addr usermem.Addr) (int, error) {
 
 // WriteTo implements io.WriterTo.WriteTo.
 func (i *IP6TIP) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
-    if !i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() && i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() {
+    if !i.Src.Packed() && i.Dst.Packed() && i.SrcMask.Packed() && i.DstMask.Packed() {
         // Type IP6TIP doesn't have a packed layout in memory, fall back to MarshalBytes.
         buf := make([]byte, i.SizeBytes())
         i.MarshalBytes(buf)
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/tmpfs/inode_refs.go b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/tmpfs/inode_refs.go
index 38eddde7e..8b7ff185f 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/tmpfs/inode_refs.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/fsimpl/tmpfs/inode_refs.go
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 package tmpfs
 
 import (
-	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/log"
-	refs_vfs1 "gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/refs"
 	"runtime"
 	"sync/atomic"
+
+	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/log"
+	refs_vfs1 "gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/refs"
 )
 
 // ownerType is used to customize logging. Note that we use a pointer to T so
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/tcp_matcher.go b/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/tcp_matcher.go
index 4f98ee2d5..0bfd6c1f4 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/tcp_matcher.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/tcp_matcher.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func (*TCPMatcher) Name() string {
 
 // Match implements Matcher.Match.
 func (tm *TCPMatcher) Match(hook stack.Hook, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, interfaceName string) (bool, bool) {
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 
 	if netHeader.TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
 		return false, false
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func (tm *TCPMatcher) Match(hook stack.Hook, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, interfaceN
 		return false, false
 	}
 
-	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	if len(tcpHeader) < header.TCPMinimumSize {
 		// There's no valid TCP header here, so we drop the packet immediately.
 		return false, true
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/udp_matcher.go b/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/udp_matcher.go
index 3f20fc891..7ed05461d 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/udp_matcher.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/socket/netfilter/udp_matcher.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (*UDPMatcher) Name() string {
 
 // Match implements Matcher.Match.
 func (um *UDPMatcher) Match(hook stack.Hook, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, interfaceName string) (bool, bool) {
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): Proto checks should ultimately be moved
 	// into the stack.Check codepath as matchers are added.
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func (um *UDPMatcher) Match(hook stack.Hook, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, interfaceN
 		return false, false
 	}
 
-	udpHeader := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	udpHeader := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	if len(udpHeader) < header.UDPMinimumSize {
 		// There's no valid UDP header here, so we drop the packet immediately.
 		return false, true
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/buffer/view.go b/pkg/tcpip/buffer/view.go
index 9a3c5d6c3..ea0c5413d 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/buffer/view.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/buffer/view.go
@@ -65,6 +65,16 @@ func (v View) ToVectorisedView() VectorisedView {
 	return NewVectorisedView(len(v), []View{v})
 }
 
+// IsEmpty returns whether v is of length zero.
+func (v View) IsEmpty() bool {
+	return len(v) == 0
+}
+
+// Size returns the length of v.
+func (v View) Size() int {
+	return len(v)
+}
+
 // VectorisedView is a vectorised version of View using non contiguous memory.
 // It supports all the convenience methods supported by View.
 //
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/channel/channel.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/channel/channel.go
index e12a5929b..c95aef63c 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/channel/channel.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/channel/channel.go
@@ -274,7 +274,9 @@ func (e *Endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 // WriteRawPacket implements stack.LinkEndpoint.WriteRawPacket.
 func (e *Endpoint) WriteRawPacket(vv buffer.VectorisedView) *tcpip.Error {
 	p := PacketInfo{
-		Pkt:   &stack.PacketBuffer{Data: vv},
+		Pkt: stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			Data: vv,
+		}),
 		Proto: 0,
 		GSO:   nil,
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/endpoint.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/endpoint.go
index c18bb91fb..975309fc8 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/endpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/endpoint.go
@@ -390,8 +390,7 @@ const (
 func (e *endpoint) AddHeader(local, remote tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	if e.hdrSize > 0 {
 		// Add ethernet header if needed.
-		eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.Header.Prepend(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
-		pkt.LinkHeader = buffer.View(eth)
+		eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.LinkHeader().Push(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
 		ethHdr := &header.EthernetFields{
 			DstAddr: remote,
 			Type:    protocol,
@@ -420,7 +419,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.Ne
 	if e.Capabilities()&stack.CapabilityHardwareGSO != 0 {
 		vnetHdr := virtioNetHdr{}
 		if gso != nil {
-			vnetHdr.hdrLen = uint16(pkt.Header.UsedLength())
+			vnetHdr.hdrLen = uint16(pkt.HeaderSize())
 			if gso.NeedsCsum {
 				vnetHdr.flags = _VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM
 				vnetHdr.csumStart = header.EthernetMinimumSize + gso.L3HdrLen
@@ -443,11 +442,9 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.Ne
 		builder.Add(vnetHdrBuf)
 	}
 
-	builder.Add(pkt.Header.View())
-	for _, v := range pkt.Data.Views() {
+	for _, v := range pkt.Views() {
 		builder.Add(v)
 	}
-
 	return rawfile.NonBlockingWriteIovec(fd, builder.Build())
 }
 
@@ -463,7 +460,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) sendBatch(batchFD int, batch []*stack.PacketBuffer) (int, *tc
 		if e.Capabilities()&stack.CapabilityHardwareGSO != 0 {
 			vnetHdr := virtioNetHdr{}
 			if pkt.GSOOptions != nil {
-				vnetHdr.hdrLen = uint16(pkt.Header.UsedLength())
+				vnetHdr.hdrLen = uint16(pkt.HeaderSize())
 				if pkt.GSOOptions.NeedsCsum {
 					vnetHdr.flags = _VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM
 					vnetHdr.csumStart = header.EthernetMinimumSize + pkt.GSOOptions.L3HdrLen
@@ -486,8 +483,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) sendBatch(batchFD int, batch []*stack.PacketBuffer) (int, *tc
 
 		var builder iovec.Builder
 		builder.Add(vnetHdrBuf)
-		builder.Add(pkt.Header.View())
-		for _, v := range pkt.Data.Views() {
+		for _, v := range pkt.Views() {
 			builder.Add(v)
 		}
 		iovecs := builder.Build()
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/mmap.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/mmap.go
index 2dfd29aa9..c475dda20 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/mmap.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/mmap.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package fdbased
 
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"fmt"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -170,10 +171,9 @@ func (d *packetMMapDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 	var (
 		p             tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber
 		remote, local tcpip.LinkAddress
-		eth           header.Ethernet
 	)
 	if d.e.hdrSize > 0 {
-		eth = header.Ethernet(pkt)
+		eth := header.Ethernet(pkt)
 		p = eth.Type()
 		remote = eth.SourceAddress()
 		local = eth.DestinationAddress()
@@ -190,10 +190,14 @@ func (d *packetMMapDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	pkt = pkt[d.e.hdrSize:]
-	d.e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket(remote, local, p, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Data:       buffer.View(pkt).ToVectorisedView(),
-		LinkHeader: buffer.View(eth),
+	pbuf := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		Data: buffer.View(pkt).ToVectorisedView(),
 	})
+	if d.e.hdrSize > 0 {
+		if _, ok := pbuf.LinkHeader().Consume(d.e.hdrSize); !ok {
+			panic(fmt.Sprintf("LinkHeader().Consume(%d) must succeed", d.e.hdrSize))
+		}
+	}
+	d.e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket(remote, local, p, pbuf)
 	return true, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/packet_dispatchers.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/packet_dispatchers.go
index d8f2504b3..8c3ca86d6 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/packet_dispatchers.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/fdbased/packet_dispatchers.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (d *readVDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 	d.allocateViews(BufConfig)
 
 	n, err := rawfile.BlockingReadv(d.fd, d.iovecs)
-	if err != nil {
+	if n == 0 || err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
 	if d.e.Capabilities()&stack.CapabilityHardwareGSO != 0 {
@@ -111,17 +111,22 @@ func (d *readVDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 		// isn't used and it isn't in a view.
 		n -= virtioNetHdrSize
 	}
-	if n <= d.e.hdrSize {
-		return false, nil
-	}
+
+	used := d.capViews(n, BufConfig)
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		Data: buffer.NewVectorisedView(n, append([]buffer.View(nil), d.views[:used]...)),
+	})
 
 	var (
 		p             tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber
 		remote, local tcpip.LinkAddress
-		eth           header.Ethernet
 	)
 	if d.e.hdrSize > 0 {
-		eth = header.Ethernet(d.views[0][:header.EthernetMinimumSize])
+		hdr, ok := pkt.LinkHeader().Consume(d.e.hdrSize)
+		if !ok {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		eth := header.Ethernet(hdr)
 		p = eth.Type()
 		remote = eth.SourceAddress()
 		local = eth.DestinationAddress()
@@ -138,13 +143,6 @@ func (d *readVDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	used := d.capViews(n, BufConfig)
-	pkt := &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Data:       buffer.NewVectorisedView(n, append([]buffer.View(nil), d.views[:used]...)),
-		LinkHeader: buffer.View(eth),
-	}
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(d.e.hdrSize)
-
 	d.e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket(remote, local, p, pkt)
 
 	// Prepare e.views for another packet: release used views.
@@ -268,17 +266,22 @@ func (d *recvMMsgDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 		if d.e.Capabilities()&stack.CapabilityHardwareGSO != 0 {
 			n -= virtioNetHdrSize
 		}
-		if n <= d.e.hdrSize {
-			return false, nil
-		}
+
+		used := d.capViews(k, int(n), BufConfig)
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			Data: buffer.NewVectorisedView(int(n), append([]buffer.View(nil), d.views[k][:used]...)),
+		})
 
 		var (
 			p             tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber
 			remote, local tcpip.LinkAddress
-			eth           header.Ethernet
 		)
 		if d.e.hdrSize > 0 {
-			eth = header.Ethernet(d.views[k][0][:header.EthernetMinimumSize])
+			hdr, ok := pkt.LinkHeader().Consume(d.e.hdrSize)
+			if !ok {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+			eth := header.Ethernet(hdr)
 			p = eth.Type()
 			remote = eth.SourceAddress()
 			local = eth.DestinationAddress()
@@ -295,12 +298,6 @@ func (d *recvMMsgDispatcher) dispatch() (bool, *tcpip.Error) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		used := d.capViews(k, int(n), BufConfig)
-		pkt := &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Data:       buffer.NewVectorisedView(int(n), append([]buffer.View(nil), d.views[k][:used]...)),
-			LinkHeader: buffer.View(eth),
-		}
-		pkt.Data.TrimFront(d.e.hdrSize)
 		d.e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket(remote, local, p, pkt)
 
 		// Prepare e.views for another packet: release used views.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/loopback/loopback.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/loopback/loopback.go
index 781cdd317..38aa694e4 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/loopback/loopback.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/loopback/loopback.go
@@ -77,16 +77,16 @@ func (*endpoint) Wait() {}
 // WritePacket implements stack.LinkEndpoint.WritePacket. It delivers outbound
 // packets to the network-layer dispatcher.
 func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(_ *stack.Route, _ *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
-	views := make([]buffer.View, 1, 1+len(pkt.Data.Views()))
-	views[0] = pkt.Header.View()
-	views = append(views, pkt.Data.Views()...)
+	// Construct data as the unparsed portion for the loopback packet.
+	data := buffer.NewVectorisedView(pkt.Size(), pkt.Views())
 
 	// Because we're immediately turning around and writing the packet back
 	// to the rx path, we intentionally don't preserve the remote and local
 	// link addresses from the stack.Route we're passed.
-	e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket("" /* remote */, "" /* local */, protocol, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Data: buffer.NewVectorisedView(len(views[0])+pkt.Data.Size(), views),
+	newPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		Data: data,
 	})
+	e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket("" /* remote */, "" /* local */, protocol, newPkt)
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -98,18 +98,17 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(*stack.Route, *stack.GSO, stack.PacketBufferList
 
 // WriteRawPacket implements stack.LinkEndpoint.WriteRawPacket.
 func (e *endpoint) WriteRawPacket(vv buffer.VectorisedView) *tcpip.Error {
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		Data: vv,
+	})
 	// There should be an ethernet header at the beginning of vv.
-	hdr, ok := vv.PullUp(header.EthernetMinimumSize)
+	hdr, ok := pkt.LinkHeader().Consume(header.EthernetMinimumSize)
 	if !ok {
 		// Reject the packet if it's shorter than an ethernet header.
 		return tcpip.ErrBadAddress
 	}
 	linkHeader := header.Ethernet(hdr)
-	vv.TrimFront(len(linkHeader))
-	e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket("" /* remote */, "" /* local */, linkHeader.Type(), &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Data:       vv,
-		LinkHeader: buffer.View(linkHeader),
-	})
+	e.dispatcher.DeliverNetworkPacket("" /* remote */, "" /* local */, linkHeader.Type(), pkt)
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/sharedmem.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/sharedmem.go
index 507c76b76..7fb8a6c49 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/sharedmem.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/sharedmem.go
@@ -186,8 +186,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) LinkAddress() tcpip.LinkAddress {
 // AddHeader implements stack.LinkEndpoint.AddHeader.
 func (e *endpoint) AddHeader(local, remote tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	// Add ethernet header if needed.
-	eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.Header.Prepend(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
-	pkt.LinkHeader = buffer.View(eth)
+	eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.LinkHeader().Push(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
 	ethHdr := &header.EthernetFields{
 		DstAddr: remote,
 		Type:    protocol,
@@ -207,10 +206,10 @@ func (e *endpoint) AddHeader(local, remote tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tcpip.Net
 func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, _ *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 	e.AddHeader(r.LocalLinkAddress, r.RemoteLinkAddress, protocol, pkt)
 
-	v := pkt.Data.ToView()
+	views := pkt.Views()
 	// Transmit the packet.
 	e.mu.Lock()
-	ok := e.tx.transmit(pkt.Header.View(), v)
+	ok := e.tx.transmit(views...)
 	e.mu.Unlock()
 
 	if !ok {
@@ -227,10 +226,10 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, _ *stack.GSO, pkts stack.PacketB
 
 // WriteRawPacket implements stack.LinkEndpoint.WriteRawPacket.
 func (e *endpoint) WriteRawPacket(vv buffer.VectorisedView) *tcpip.Error {
-	v := vv.ToView()
+	views := vv.Views()
 	// Transmit the packet.
 	e.mu.Lock()
-	ok := e.tx.transmit(v, buffer.View{})
+	ok := e.tx.transmit(views...)
 	e.mu.Unlock()
 
 	if !ok {
@@ -276,16 +275,18 @@ func (e *endpoint) dispatchLoop(d stack.NetworkDispatcher) {
 			rxb[i].Size = e.bufferSize
 		}
 
-		if n < header.EthernetMinimumSize {
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			Data: buffer.View(b).ToVectorisedView(),
+		})
+
+		hdr, ok := pkt.LinkHeader().Consume(header.EthernetMinimumSize)
+		if !ok {
 			continue
 		}
+		eth := header.Ethernet(hdr)
 
 		// Send packet up the stack.
-		eth := header.Ethernet(b[:header.EthernetMinimumSize])
-		d.DeliverNetworkPacket(eth.SourceAddress(), eth.DestinationAddress(), eth.Type(), &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Data:       buffer.View(b[header.EthernetMinimumSize:]).ToVectorisedView(),
-			LinkHeader: buffer.View(eth),
-		})
+		d.DeliverNetworkPacket(eth.SourceAddress(), eth.DestinationAddress(), eth.Type(), pkt)
 	}
 
 	// Clean state.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/tx.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/tx.go
index 6b8d7859d..44f421c2d 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/tx.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/tx.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"syscall"
 
+	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip/buffer"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip/link/sharedmem/queue"
 )
 
@@ -76,9 +77,9 @@ func (t *tx) cleanup() {
 	syscall.Munmap(t.data)
 }
 
-// transmit sends a packet made up of up to two buffers. Returns a boolean that
-// specifies whether the packet was successfully transmitted.
-func (t *tx) transmit(a, b []byte) bool {
+// transmit sends a packet made of bufs. Returns a boolean that specifies
+// whether the packet was successfully transmitted.
+func (t *tx) transmit(bufs ...buffer.View) bool {
 	// Pull completions from the tx queue and add their buffers back to the
 	// pool so that we can reuse them.
 	for {
@@ -93,7 +94,10 @@ func (t *tx) transmit(a, b []byte) bool {
 	}
 
 	bSize := t.bufs.entrySize
-	total := uint32(len(a) + len(b))
+	total := uint32(0)
+	for _, data := range bufs {
+		total += uint32(len(data))
+	}
 	bufCount := (total + bSize - 1) / bSize
 
 	// Allocate enough buffers to hold all the data.
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@ func (t *tx) transmit(a, b []byte) bool {
 	// Copy data into allocated buffers.
 	nBuf := buf
 	var dBuf []byte
-	for _, data := range [][]byte{a, b} {
+	for _, data := range bufs {
 		for len(data) > 0 {
 			if len(dBuf) == 0 {
 				dBuf = t.data[nBuf.Offset:][:nBuf.Size]
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/sniffer/sniffer.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/sniffer/sniffer.go
index 509076643..4fb127978 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/sniffer/sniffer.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/sniffer/sniffer.go
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) dumpPacket(prefix string, gso *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.Netw
 		logPacket(prefix, protocol, pkt, gso)
 	}
 	if writer != nil && atomic.LoadUint32(&LogPacketsToPCAP) == 1 {
-		totalLength := pkt.Header.UsedLength() + pkt.Data.Size()
+		totalLength := pkt.Size()
 		length := totalLength
 		if max := int(e.maxPCAPLen); length > max {
 			length = max
@@ -155,12 +155,11 @@ func (e *endpoint) dumpPacket(prefix string, gso *stack.GSO, protocol tcpip.Netw
 				length -= n
 			}
 		}
-		write(pkt.Header.View())
-		for _, view := range pkt.Data.Views() {
+		for _, v := range pkt.Views() {
 			if length == 0 {
 				break
 			}
-			write(view)
+			write(v)
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -185,9 +184,9 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 
 // WriteRawPacket implements stack.LinkEndpoint.WriteRawPacket.
 func (e *endpoint) WriteRawPacket(vv buffer.VectorisedView) *tcpip.Error {
-	e.dumpPacket("send", nil, 0, &stack.PacketBuffer{
+	e.dumpPacket("send", nil, 0, stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
 		Data: vv,
-	})
+	}))
 	return e.Endpoint.WriteRawPacket(vv)
 }
 
@@ -201,12 +200,8 @@ func logPacket(prefix string, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *stack.P
 	var fragmentOffset uint16
 	var moreFragments bool
 
-	// Create a clone of pkt, including any headers if present. Avoid allocating
-	// backing memory for the clone.
-	views := [8]buffer.View{}
-	vv := buffer.NewVectorisedView(0, views[:0])
-	vv.AppendView(pkt.Header.View())
-	vv.Append(pkt.Data)
+	// Examine the packet using a new VV. Backing storage must not be written.
+	vv := buffer.NewVectorisedView(pkt.Size(), pkt.Views())
 
 	switch protocol {
 	case header.IPv4ProtocolNumber:
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/link/tun/device.go b/pkg/tcpip/link/tun/device.go
index 22b0a12bd..3b1510a33 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/link/tun/device.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/link/tun/device.go
@@ -215,12 +215,11 @@ func (d *Device) Write(data []byte) (int64, error) {
 		remote = tcpip.LinkAddress(zeroMAC[:])
 	}
 
-	pkt := &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Data: buffer.View(data).ToVectorisedView(),
-	}
-	if ethHdr != nil {
-		pkt.LinkHeader = buffer.View(ethHdr)
-	}
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: len(ethHdr),
+		Data:               buffer.View(data).ToVectorisedView(),
+	})
+	copy(pkt.LinkHeader().Push(len(ethHdr)), ethHdr)
 	endpoint.InjectLinkAddr(protocol, remote, pkt)
 	return dataLen, nil
 }
@@ -265,21 +264,22 @@ func (d *Device) encodePkt(info *channel.PacketInfo) (buffer.View, bool) {
 	// If the packet does not already have link layer header, and the route
 	// does not exist, we can't compute it. This is possibly a raw packet, tun
 	// device doesn't support this at the moment.
-	if info.Pkt.LinkHeader == nil && info.Route.RemoteLinkAddress == "" {
+	if info.Pkt.LinkHeader().View().IsEmpty() && info.Route.RemoteLinkAddress == "" {
 		return nil, false
 	}
 
 	// Ethernet header (TAP only).
 	if d.hasFlags(linux.IFF_TAP) {
 		// Add ethernet header if not provided.
-		if info.Pkt.LinkHeader == nil {
+		if info.Pkt.LinkHeader().View().IsEmpty() {
 			d.endpoint.AddHeader(info.Route.LocalLinkAddress, info.Route.RemoteLinkAddress, info.Proto, info.Pkt)
 		}
-		vv.AppendView(info.Pkt.LinkHeader)
+		vv.AppendView(info.Pkt.LinkHeader().View())
 	}
 
 	// Append upper headers.
-	vv.AppendView(buffer.View(info.Pkt.Header.View()[len(info.Pkt.LinkHeader):]))
+	vv.AppendView(info.Pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	vv.AppendView(info.Pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	// Append data payload.
 	vv.Append(info.Pkt.Data)
 
@@ -361,8 +361,7 @@ func (e *tunEndpoint) AddHeader(local, remote tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tcpip.
 	if !e.isTap {
 		return
 	}
-	eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.Header.Prepend(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
-	pkt.LinkHeader = buffer.View(eth)
+	eth := header.Ethernet(pkt.LinkHeader().Push(header.EthernetMinimumSize))
 	hdr := &header.EthernetFields{
 		SrcAddr: local,
 		DstAddr: remote,
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/arp/arp.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/arp/arp.go
index 31a242482..1ad788a17 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/arp/arp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/arp/arp.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBu
 }
 
 func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
-	h := header.ARP(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	h := header.ARP(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 	if !h.IsValid() {
 		return
 	}
@@ -110,17 +110,17 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 		if e.linkAddrCache.CheckLocalAddress(e.nicID, header.IPv4ProtocolNumber, localAddr) == 0 {
 			return // we have no useful answer, ignore the request
 		}
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(e.linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ARPSize)
-		packet := header.ARP(hdr.Prepend(header.ARPSize))
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(e.linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ARPSize,
+		})
+		packet := header.ARP(pkt.NetworkHeader().Push(header.ARPSize))
 		packet.SetIPv4OverEthernet()
 		packet.SetOp(header.ARPReply)
 		copy(packet.HardwareAddressSender(), r.LocalLinkAddress[:])
 		copy(packet.ProtocolAddressSender(), h.ProtocolAddressTarget())
 		copy(packet.HardwareAddressTarget(), h.HardwareAddressSender())
 		copy(packet.ProtocolAddressTarget(), h.ProtocolAddressSender())
-		e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header: hdr,
-		})
+		_ = e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, pkt)
 		fallthrough // also fill the cache from requests
 	case header.ARPReply:
 		addr := tcpip.Address(h.ProtocolAddressSender())
@@ -168,17 +168,17 @@ func (*protocol) LinkAddressRequest(addr, localAddr tcpip.Address, remoteLinkAdd
 		r.RemoteLinkAddress = header.EthernetBroadcastAddress
 	}
 
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ARPSize)
-	h := header.ARP(hdr.Prepend(header.ARPSize))
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: int(linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ARPSize,
+	})
+	h := header.ARP(pkt.NetworkHeader().Push(header.ARPSize))
 	h.SetIPv4OverEthernet()
 	h.SetOp(header.ARPRequest)
 	copy(h.HardwareAddressSender(), linkEP.LinkAddress())
 	copy(h.ProtocolAddressSender(), localAddr)
 	copy(h.ProtocolAddressTarget(), addr)
 
-	return linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header: hdr,
-	})
+	return linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, pkt)
 }
 
 // ResolveStaticAddress implements stack.LinkAddressResolver.ResolveStaticAddress.
@@ -210,12 +210,10 @@ func (*protocol) Wait() {}
 
 // Parse implements stack.NetworkProtocol.Parse.
 func (*protocol) Parse(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) (proto tcpip.TransportProtocolNumber, hasTransportHdr bool, ok bool) {
-	hdr, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(header.ARPSize)
+	_, ok = pkt.NetworkHeader().Consume(header.ARPSize)
 	if !ok {
 		return 0, false, false
 	}
-	pkt.NetworkHeader = hdr
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(header.ARPSize)
 	return 0, false, true
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
index 94803a359..067d770f3 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
@@ -89,12 +89,14 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 			return
 		}
 
+		// Make a copy of data before pkt gets sent to raw socket.
+		// DeliverTransportPacket will take ownership of pkt.
+		replyData := pkt.Data.Clone(nil)
+		replyData.TrimFront(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize)
+
 		// It's possible that a raw socket expects to receive this.
 		h.SetChecksum(wantChecksum)
-		e.dispatcher.DeliverTransportPacket(r, header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Data:          pkt.Data.Clone(nil),
-			NetworkHeader: append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.NetworkHeader...),
-		})
+		e.dispatcher.DeliverTransportPacket(r, header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, pkt)
 
 		remoteLinkAddr := r.RemoteLinkAddress
 
@@ -116,24 +118,26 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 		// Use the remote link address from the incoming packet.
 		r.ResolveWith(remoteLinkAddr)
 
-		vv := pkt.Data.Clone(nil)
-		vv.TrimFront(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize)
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv4MinimumSize)
-		pkt := header.ICMPv4(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize))
-		copy(pkt, h)
-		pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv4EchoReply)
-		pkt.SetChecksum(0)
-		pkt.SetChecksum(^header.Checksum(pkt, header.ChecksumVV(vv, 0)))
+		// Prepare a reply packet.
+		icmpHdr := make(header.ICMPv4, header.ICMPv4MinimumSize)
+		copy(icmpHdr, h)
+		icmpHdr.SetType(header.ICMPv4EchoReply)
+		icmpHdr.SetChecksum(0)
+		icmpHdr.SetChecksum(^header.Checksum(icmpHdr, header.ChecksumVV(replyData, 0)))
+		dataVV := buffer.View(icmpHdr).ToVectorisedView()
+		dataVV.Append(replyData)
+		replyPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+			Data:               dataVV,
+		})
+
+		// Send out the reply packet.
 		sent := stats.ICMP.V4PacketsSent
 		if err := r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{
 			Protocol: header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber,
 			TTL:      r.DefaultTTL(),
 			TOS:      stack.DefaultTOS,
-		}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header:          hdr,
-			Data:            vv,
-			TransportHeader: buffer.View(pkt),
-		}); err != nil {
+		}, replyPkt); err != nil {
 			sent.Dropped.Increment()
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
index 9ff27a363..3cd48ceb3 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 package ipv4
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip"
@@ -127,14 +126,12 @@ func (e *endpoint) NetworkProtocolNumber() tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber {
 }
 
 // writePacketFragments calls e.linkEP.WritePacket with each packet fragment to
-// write. It assumes that the IP header is entirely in pkt.Header but does not
-// assume that only the IP header is in pkt.Header. It assumes that the input
-// packet's stated length matches the length of the header+payload. mtu
-// includes the IP header and options. This does not support the DontFragment
-// IP flag.
+// write. It assumes that the IP header is already present in pkt.NetworkHeader.
+// pkt.TransportHeader may be set. mtu includes the IP header and options. This
+// does not support the DontFragment IP flag.
 func (e *endpoint) writePacketFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, mtu int, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 	// This packet is too big, it needs to be fragmented.
-	ip := header.IPv4(pkt.Header.View())
+	ip := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 	flags := ip.Flags()
 
 	// Update mtu to take into account the header, which will exist in all
@@ -148,88 +145,84 @@ func (e *endpoint) writePacketFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, mtu int,
 
 	outerMTU := innerMTU + int(ip.HeaderLength())
 	offset := ip.FragmentOffset()
-	originalAvailableLength := pkt.Header.AvailableLength()
+
+	// Keep the length reserved for link-layer, we need to create fragments with
+	// the same reserved length.
+	reservedForLink := pkt.AvailableHeaderBytes()
+
+	// Destroy the packet, pull all payloads out for fragmentation.
+	transHeader, data := pkt.TransportHeader().View(), pkt.Data
+
+	// Where possible, the first fragment that is sent has the same
+	// number of bytes reserved for header as the input packet. The link-layer
+	// endpoint may depend on this for looking at, eg, L4 headers.
+	transFitsFirst := len(transHeader) <= innerMTU
+
 	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		// Where possible, the first fragment that is sent has the same
-		// pkt.Header.UsedLength() as the input packet. The link-layer
-		// endpoint may depend on this for looking at, eg, L4 headers.
-		h := ip
-		if i > 0 {
-			pkt.Header = buffer.NewPrependable(int(ip.HeaderLength()) + originalAvailableLength)
-			h = header.IPv4(pkt.Header.Prepend(int(ip.HeaderLength())))
-			copy(h, ip[:ip.HeaderLength()])
+		reserve := reservedForLink + int(ip.HeaderLength())
+		if i == 0 && transFitsFirst {
+			// Reserve for transport header if it's going to be put in the first
+			// fragment.
+			reserve += len(transHeader)
+		}
+		fragPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: reserve,
+		})
+		fragPkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv4ProtocolNumber
+
+		// Copy data for the fragment.
+		avail := innerMTU
+
+		if n := len(transHeader); n > 0 {
+			if n > avail {
+				n = avail
+			}
+			if i == 0 && transFitsFirst {
+				copy(fragPkt.TransportHeader().Push(n), transHeader)
+			} else {
+				fragPkt.Data.AppendView(transHeader[:n:n])
+			}
+			transHeader = transHeader[n:]
+			avail -= n
 		}
+
+		if avail > 0 {
+			n := data.Size()
+			if n > avail {
+				n = avail
+			}
+			data.ReadToVV(&fragPkt.Data, n)
+			avail -= n
+		}
+
+		copied := uint16(innerMTU - avail)
+
+		// Set lengths in header and calculate checksum.
+		h := header.IPv4(fragPkt.NetworkHeader().Push(len(ip)))
+		copy(h, ip)
 		if i != n-1 {
 			h.SetTotalLength(uint16(outerMTU))
 			h.SetFlagsFragmentOffset(flags|header.IPv4FlagMoreFragments, offset)
 		} else {
-			h.SetTotalLength(uint16(h.HeaderLength()) + uint16(pkt.Data.Size()))
+			h.SetTotalLength(uint16(h.HeaderLength()) + copied)
 			h.SetFlagsFragmentOffset(flags, offset)
 		}
 		h.SetChecksum(0)
 		h.SetChecksum(^h.CalculateChecksum())
-		offset += uint16(innerMTU)
-		if i > 0 {
-			newPayload := pkt.Data.Clone(nil)
-			newPayload.CapLength(innerMTU)
-			if err := e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-				Header:                pkt.Header,
-				Data:                  newPayload,
-				NetworkHeader:         buffer.View(h),
-				NetworkProtocolNumber: header.IPv4ProtocolNumber,
-			}); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Increment()
-			pkt.Data.TrimFront(newPayload.Size())
-			continue
-		}
-		// Special handling for the first fragment because it comes
-		// from the header.
-		if outerMTU >= pkt.Header.UsedLength() {
-			// This fragment can fit all of pkt.Header and possibly
-			// some of pkt.Data, too.
-			newPayload := pkt.Data.Clone(nil)
-			newPayloadLength := outerMTU - pkt.Header.UsedLength()
-			newPayload.CapLength(newPayloadLength)
-			if err := e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-				Header:                pkt.Header,
-				Data:                  newPayload,
-				NetworkHeader:         buffer.View(h),
-				NetworkProtocolNumber: header.IPv4ProtocolNumber,
-			}); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Increment()
-			pkt.Data.TrimFront(newPayloadLength)
-		} else {
-			// The fragment is too small to fit all of pkt.Header.
-			startOfHdr := pkt.Header
-			startOfHdr.TrimBack(pkt.Header.UsedLength() - outerMTU)
-			emptyVV := buffer.NewVectorisedView(0, []buffer.View{})
-			if err := e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-				Header:                startOfHdr,
-				Data:                  emptyVV,
-				NetworkHeader:         buffer.View(h),
-				NetworkProtocolNumber: header.IPv4ProtocolNumber,
-			}); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Increment()
-			// Add the unused bytes of pkt.Header into the pkt.Data
-			// that remains to be sent.
-			restOfHdr := pkt.Header.View()[outerMTU:]
-			tmp := buffer.NewVectorisedView(len(restOfHdr), []buffer.View{buffer.NewViewFromBytes(restOfHdr)})
-			tmp.Append(pkt.Data)
-			pkt.Data = tmp
+		offset += copied
+
+		// Send out the fragment.
+		if err := e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, fragPkt); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
+		r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Increment()
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, hdr *buffer.Prependable, payloadSize int, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams) header.IPv4 {
-	ip := header.IPv4(hdr.Prepend(header.IPv4MinimumSize))
-	length := uint16(hdr.UsedLength() + payloadSize)
+func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams) {
+	ip := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().Push(header.IPv4MinimumSize))
+	length := uint16(pkt.Size())
 	// RFC 6864 section 4.3 mandates uniqueness of ID values for non-atomic
 	// datagrams. Since the DF bit is never being set here, all datagrams
 	// are non-atomic and need an ID.
@@ -245,14 +238,12 @@ func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, hdr *buffer.Prependable, payloadS
 		DstAddr:     r.RemoteAddress,
 	})
 	ip.SetChecksum(^ip.CalculateChecksum())
-	return ip
+	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv4ProtocolNumber
 }
 
 // WritePacket writes a packet to the given destination address and protocol.
 func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
-	ip := e.addIPHeader(r, &pkt.Header, pkt.Data.Size(), params)
-	pkt.NetworkHeader = buffer.View(ip)
-	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv4ProtocolNumber
+	e.addIPHeader(r, pkt, params)
 
 	// iptables filtering. All packets that reach here are locally
 	// generated.
@@ -269,7 +260,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, params stack.Netw
 	// only NATted packets, but removing this check short circuits broadcasts
 	// before they are sent out to other hosts.
 	if pkt.NatDone {
-		netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+		netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 		ep, err := e.stack.FindNetworkEndpoint(header.IPv4ProtocolNumber, netHeader.DestinationAddress())
 		if err == nil {
 			route := r.ReverseRoute(netHeader.SourceAddress(), netHeader.DestinationAddress())
@@ -286,7 +277,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, params stack.Netw
 	if r.Loop&stack.PacketOut == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
-	if pkt.Header.UsedLength()+pkt.Data.Size() > int(e.linkEP.MTU()) && (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) {
+	if pkt.Size() > int(e.linkEP.MTU()) && (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) {
 		return e.writePacketFragments(r, gso, int(e.linkEP.MTU()), pkt)
 	}
 	if err := e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, pkt); err != nil {
@@ -306,9 +297,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 	}
 
 	for pkt := pkts.Front(); pkt != nil; {
-		ip := e.addIPHeader(r, &pkt.Header, pkt.Data.Size(), params)
-		pkt.NetworkHeader = buffer.View(ip)
-		pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv4ProtocolNumber
+		e.addIPHeader(r, pkt, params)
 		pkt = pkt.Next()
 	}
 
@@ -333,7 +322,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 			continue
 		}
 		if _, ok := natPkts[pkt]; ok {
-			netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+			netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 			if ep, err := e.stack.FindNetworkEndpoint(header.IPv4ProtocolNumber, netHeader.DestinationAddress()); err == nil {
 				src := netHeader.SourceAddress()
 				dst := netHeader.DestinationAddress()
@@ -402,17 +391,14 @@ func (e *endpoint) WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBu
 
 	r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Increment()
 
-	ip = ip[:ip.HeaderLength()]
-	pkt.Header = buffer.NewPrependableFromView(buffer.View(ip))
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(int(ip.HeaderLength()))
 	return e.linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, pkt)
 }
 
 // HandlePacket is called by the link layer when new ipv4 packets arrive for
 // this endpoint.
 func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
-	h := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
-	if !h.IsValid(pkt.Data.Size() + len(pkt.NetworkHeader) + len(pkt.TransportHeader)) {
+	h := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	if !h.IsValid(pkt.Data.Size() + pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size() + pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size()) {
 		r.Stats().IP.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
 		return
 	}
@@ -426,7 +412,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	}
 
 	if h.More() || h.FragmentOffset() != 0 {
-		if pkt.Data.Size()+len(pkt.TransportHeader) == 0 {
+		if pkt.Data.Size()+pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() == 0 {
 			// Drop the packet as it's marked as a fragment but has
 			// no payload.
 			r.Stats().IP.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
@@ -470,7 +456,6 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	}
 	p := h.TransportProtocol()
 	if p == header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber {
-		pkt.NetworkHeader.CapLength(int(h.HeaderLength()))
 		e.handleICMP(r, pkt)
 		return
 	}
@@ -560,14 +545,19 @@ func (*protocol) Parse(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) (proto tcpip.TransportProtocolNu
 	}
 	ipHdr := header.IPv4(hdr)
 
-	// If there are options, pull those into hdr as well.
-	if headerLen := int(ipHdr.HeaderLength()); headerLen > header.IPv4MinimumSize && headerLen <= pkt.Data.Size() {
-		hdr, ok = pkt.Data.PullUp(headerLen)
-		if !ok {
-			panic(fmt.Sprintf("There are only %d bytes in pkt.Data, but there should be at least %d", pkt.Data.Size(), headerLen))
-		}
-		ipHdr = header.IPv4(hdr)
+	// Header may have options, determine the true header length.
+	headerLen := int(ipHdr.HeaderLength())
+	if headerLen < header.IPv4MinimumSize {
+		// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/2404): Per RFC 791, IHL needs to be at least 5 in
+		// order for the packet to be valid. Figure out if we want to reject this
+		// case.
+		headerLen = header.IPv4MinimumSize
+	}
+	hdr, ok = pkt.NetworkHeader().Consume(headerLen)
+	if !ok {
+		return 0, false, false
 	}
+	ipHdr = header.IPv4(hdr)
 
 	// If this is a fragment, don't bother parsing the transport header.
 	parseTransportHeader := true
@@ -576,8 +566,6 @@ func (*protocol) Parse(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) (proto tcpip.TransportProtocolNu
 	}
 
 	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv4ProtocolNumber
-	pkt.NetworkHeader = hdr
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(len(hdr))
 	pkt.Data.CapLength(int(ipHdr.TotalLength()) - len(hdr))
 	return ipHdr.TransportProtocol(), parseTransportHeader, true
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
index ded91d83a..39ae19295 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 		return
 	}
 	h := header.ICMPv6(v)
-	iph := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	iph := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 
 	// Validate ICMPv6 checksum before processing the packet.
 	//
@@ -276,8 +276,10 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 		optsSerializer := header.NDPOptionsSerializer{
 			header.NDPTargetLinkLayerAddressOption(r.LocalLinkAddress),
 		}
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertMinimumSize + int(optsSerializer.Length()))
-		packet := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize))
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertMinimumSize + int(optsSerializer.Length()),
+		})
+		packet := header.ICMPv6(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize))
 		packet.SetType(header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvert)
 		na := header.NDPNeighborAdvert(packet.NDPPayload())
 		na.SetSolicitedFlag(solicited)
@@ -293,9 +295,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 		//
 		// The IP Hop Limit field has a value of 255, i.e., the packet
 		// could not possibly have been forwarded by a router.
-		if err := r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: header.NDPHopLimit, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header: hdr,
-		}); err != nil {
+		if err := r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: header.NDPHopLimit, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, pkt); err != nil {
 			sent.Dropped.Increment()
 			return
 		}
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 
 	case header.ICMPv6EchoRequest:
 		received.EchoRequest.Increment()
-		icmpHdr, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize)
+		icmpHdr, ok := pkt.TransportHeader().Consume(header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize)
 		if !ok {
 			received.Invalid.Increment()
 			return
@@ -409,16 +409,15 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 		// Use the link address from the source of the original packet.
 		r.ResolveWith(remoteLinkAddr)
 
-		pkt.Data.TrimFront(header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize)
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize)
-		packet := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize))
+		replyPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize,
+			Data:               pkt.Data,
+		})
+		packet := header.ICMPv6(replyPkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv6EchoMinimumSize))
 		copy(packet, icmpHdr)
 		packet.SetType(header.ICMPv6EchoReply)
 		packet.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(packet, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, pkt.Data))
-		if err := r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header: hdr,
-			Data:   pkt.Data,
-		}); err != nil {
+		if err := r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, replyPkt); err != nil {
 			sent.Dropped.Increment()
 			return
 		}
@@ -539,17 +538,19 @@ func (*protocol) LinkAddressRequest(addr, localAddr tcpip.Address, remoteLinkAdd
 		r.RemoteLinkAddress = header.EthernetAddressFromMulticastIPv6Address(snaddr)
 	}
 
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.IPv6MinimumSize + header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize)
-	pkt := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize))
-	pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicit)
-	copy(pkt[icmpV6OptOffset-len(addr):], addr)
-	pkt[icmpV6OptOffset] = ndpOptSrcLinkAddr
-	pkt[icmpV6LengthOffset] = 1
-	copy(pkt[icmpV6LengthOffset+1:], linkEP.LinkAddress())
-	pkt.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(pkt, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
-
-	length := uint16(hdr.UsedLength())
-	ip := header.IPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.IPv6MinimumSize))
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: int(linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.IPv6MinimumSize + header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize,
+	})
+	icmpHdr := header.ICMPv6(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv6NeighborAdvertSize))
+	icmpHdr.SetType(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicit)
+	copy(icmpHdr[icmpV6OptOffset-len(addr):], addr)
+	icmpHdr[icmpV6OptOffset] = ndpOptSrcLinkAddr
+	icmpHdr[icmpV6LengthOffset] = 1
+	copy(icmpHdr[icmpV6LengthOffset+1:], linkEP.LinkAddress())
+	icmpHdr.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(icmpHdr, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
+
+	length := uint16(pkt.Size())
+	ip := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().Push(header.IPv6MinimumSize))
 	ip.Encode(&header.IPv6Fields{
 		PayloadLength: length,
 		NextHeader:    uint8(header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber),
@@ -559,9 +560,7 @@ func (*protocol) LinkAddressRequest(addr, localAddr tcpip.Address, remoteLinkAdd
 	})
 
 	// TODO(stijlist): count this in ICMP stats.
-	return linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header: hdr,
-	})
+	return linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, ProtocolNumber, pkt)
 }
 
 // ResolveStaticAddress implements stack.LinkAddressResolver.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
index d7d7fc611..0ade655b2 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ func (e *endpoint) GSOMaxSize() uint32 {
 	return 0
 }
 
-func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, hdr *buffer.Prependable, payloadSize int, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams) header.IPv6 {
-	length := uint16(hdr.UsedLength() + payloadSize)
-	ip := header.IPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.IPv6MinimumSize))
+func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams) {
+	length := uint16(pkt.Size())
+	ip := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().Push(header.IPv6MinimumSize))
 	ip.Encode(&header.IPv6Fields{
 		PayloadLength: length,
 		NextHeader:    uint8(params.Protocol),
@@ -110,26 +110,20 @@ func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, hdr *buffer.Prependable, payloadS
 		SrcAddr:       r.LocalAddress,
 		DstAddr:       r.RemoteAddress,
 	})
-	return ip
+	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
 }
 
 // WritePacket writes a packet to the given destination address and protocol.
 func (e *endpoint) WritePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, params stack.NetworkHeaderParams, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
-	ip := e.addIPHeader(r, &pkt.Header, pkt.Data.Size(), params)
-	pkt.NetworkHeader = buffer.View(ip)
-	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
+	e.addIPHeader(r, pkt, params)
 
 	if r.Loop&stack.PacketLoop != 0 {
-		// The inbound path expects the network header to still be in
-		// the PacketBuffer's Data field.
-		views := make([]buffer.View, 1, 1+len(pkt.Data.Views()))
-		views[0] = pkt.Header.View()
-		views = append(views, pkt.Data.Views()...)
 		loopedR := r.MakeLoopedRoute()
 
-		e.HandlePacket(&loopedR, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Data: buffer.NewVectorisedView(len(views[0])+pkt.Data.Size(), views),
-		})
+		e.HandlePacket(&loopedR, stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			// The inbound path expects an unparsed packet.
+			Data: buffer.NewVectorisedView(pkt.Size(), pkt.Views()),
+		}))
 
 		loopedR.Release()
 	}
@@ -151,9 +145,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 	}
 
 	for pb := pkts.Front(); pb != nil; pb = pb.Next() {
-		ip := e.addIPHeader(r, &pb.Header, pb.Data.Size(), params)
-		pb.NetworkHeader = buffer.View(ip)
-		pb.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
+		e.addIPHeader(r, pb, params)
 	}
 
 	n, err := e.linkEP.WritePackets(r, gso, pkts, ProtocolNumber)
@@ -171,8 +163,8 @@ func (*endpoint) WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuff
 // HandlePacket is called by the link layer when new ipv6 packets arrive for
 // this endpoint.
 func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
-	h := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader)
-	if !h.IsValid(pkt.Data.Size() + len(pkt.NetworkHeader) + len(pkt.TransportHeader)) {
+	h := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	if !h.IsValid(pkt.Data.Size() + pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size() + pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size()) {
 		r.Stats().IP.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
 		return
 	}
@@ -181,8 +173,8 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	// - Any IPv6 header bytes after the first 40 (i.e. extensions).
 	// - The transport header, if present.
 	// - Any other payload data.
-	vv := pkt.NetworkHeader[header.IPv6MinimumSize:].ToVectorisedView()
-	vv.AppendView(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	vv := pkt.NetworkHeader().View()[header.IPv6MinimumSize:].ToVectorisedView()
+	vv.AppendView(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	vv.Append(pkt.Data)
 	it := header.MakeIPv6PayloadIterator(header.IPv6ExtensionHeaderIdentifier(h.NextHeader()), vv)
 	hasFragmentHeader := false
@@ -410,7 +402,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 			//
 			// For reassembled fragments, pkt.TransportHeader is unset, so this is a
 			// no-op and pkt.Data begins with the transport header.
-			extHdr.Buf.TrimFront(len(pkt.TransportHeader))
+			extHdr.Buf.TrimFront(pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size())
 			pkt.Data = extHdr.Buf
 
 			if p := tcpip.TransportProtocolNumber(extHdr.Identifier); p == header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber {
@@ -581,17 +573,14 @@ traverseExtensions:
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Put the IPv6 header with extensions in pkt.NetworkHeader.
-	hdr, ok = pkt.Data.PullUp(header.IPv6MinimumSize + extensionsSize)
+	// Put the IPv6 header with extensions in pkt.NetworkHeader().
+	hdr, ok = pkt.NetworkHeader().Consume(header.IPv6MinimumSize + extensionsSize)
 	if !ok {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("pkt.Data should have at least %d bytes, but only has %d.", header.IPv6MinimumSize+extensionsSize, pkt.Data.Size()))
 	}
 	ipHdr = header.IPv6(hdr)
-
-	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
-	pkt.NetworkHeader = hdr
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(len(hdr))
 	pkt.Data.CapLength(int(ipHdr.PayloadLength()))
+	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
 
 	return nextHdr, foundNext, true
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/conntrack.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/conntrack.go
index 470c265aa..7dd344b4f 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/conntrack.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/conntrack.go
@@ -199,12 +199,12 @@ type bucket struct {
 func packetToTupleID(pkt *PacketBuffer) (tupleID, *tcpip.Error) {
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): Need to support for other
 	// protocols as well.
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
-	if netHeader == nil || netHeader.TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	if len(netHeader) < header.IPv4MinimumSize || netHeader.TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
 		return tupleID{}, tcpip.ErrUnknownProtocol
 	}
-	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
-	if tcpHeader == nil {
+	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
+	if len(tcpHeader) < header.TCPMinimumSize {
 		return tupleID{}, tcpip.ErrUnknownProtocol
 	}
 
@@ -344,8 +344,8 @@ func handlePacketPrerouting(pkt *PacketBuffer, conn *conn, dir direction) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
-	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 
 	// For prerouting redirection, packets going in the original direction
 	// have their destinations modified and replies have their sources
@@ -377,8 +377,8 @@ func handlePacketOutput(pkt *PacketBuffer, conn *conn, gso *GSO, r *Route, dir d
 		return
 	}
 
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
-	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 
 	// For output redirection, packets going in the original direction
 	// have their destinations modified and replies have their sources
@@ -396,8 +396,7 @@ func handlePacketOutput(pkt *PacketBuffer, conn *conn, gso *GSO, r *Route, dir d
 
 	// Calculate the TCP checksum and set it.
 	tcpHeader.SetChecksum(0)
-	hdr := &pkt.Header
-	length := uint16(pkt.Data.Size()+hdr.UsedLength()) - uint16(netHeader.HeaderLength())
+	length := uint16(pkt.Size()) - uint16(netHeader.HeaderLength())
 	xsum := r.PseudoHeaderChecksum(header.TCPProtocolNumber, length)
 	if gso != nil && gso.NeedsCsum {
 		tcpHeader.SetChecksum(xsum)
@@ -423,7 +422,7 @@ func (ct *ConnTrack) handlePacket(pkt *PacketBuffer, hook Hook, gso *GSO, r *Rou
 	}
 
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): Support other transport protocols.
-	if pkt.NetworkHeader == nil || header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader).TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
+	if nh := pkt.NetworkHeader().View(); nh.IsEmpty() || header.IPv4(nh).TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -433,8 +432,8 @@ func (ct *ConnTrack) handlePacket(pkt *PacketBuffer, hook Hook, gso *GSO, r *Rou
 		return true
 	}
 
-	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
-	if tcpHeader == nil {
+	tcpHeader := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
+	if len(tcpHeader) < header.TCPMinimumSize {
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -455,7 +454,7 @@ func (ct *ConnTrack) handlePacket(pkt *PacketBuffer, hook Hook, gso *GSO, r *Rou
 	// Mark the connection as having been used recently so it isn't reaped.
 	conn.lastUsed = time.Now()
 	// Update connection state.
-	conn.updateLocked(header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader), hook)
+	conn.updateLocked(header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View()), hook)
 
 	return false
 }
@@ -474,7 +473,7 @@ func (ct *ConnTrack) maybeInsertNoop(pkt *PacketBuffer, hook Hook) {
 	}
 
 	// We only track TCP connections.
-	if pkt.NetworkHeader == nil || header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader).TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
+	if nh := pkt.NetworkHeader().View(); nh.IsEmpty() || header.IPv4(nh).TransportProtocol() != header.TCPProtocolNumber {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -486,7 +485,7 @@ func (ct *ConnTrack) maybeInsertNoop(pkt *PacketBuffer, hook Hook) {
 		return
 	}
 	conn := newConn(tid, tid.reply(), manipNone, hook)
-	conn.updateLocked(header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader), hook)
+	conn.updateLocked(header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View()), hook)
 	ct.insertConn(conn)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/headertype_string.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/headertype_string.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5efddfaaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/headertype_string.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The gVisor Authors.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at //
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+// Code generated by "stringer -type headerType ."; DO NOT EDIT.
+
+package stack
+
+import "strconv"
+
+func _() {
+	// An "invalid array index" compiler error signifies that the constant values have changed.
+	// Re-run the stringer command to generate them again.
+	var x [1]struct{}
+	_ = x[linkHeader-0]
+	_ = x[networkHeader-1]
+	_ = x[transportHeader-2]
+	_ = x[numHeaderType-3]
+}
+
+const _headerType_name = "linkHeadernetworkHeadertransportHeadernumHeaderType"
+
+var _headerType_index = [...]uint8{0, 10, 23, 38, 51}
+
+func (i headerType) String() string {
+	if i < 0 || i >= headerType(len(_headerType_index)-1) {
+		return "headerType(" + strconv.FormatInt(int64(i), 10) + ")"
+	}
+	return _headerType_name[_headerType_index[i]:_headerType_index[i+1]]
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables.go
index 110ba073d..c37da814f 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables.go
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ func (it *IPTables) checkRule(hook Hook, pkt *PacketBuffer, table Table, ruleIdx
 	rule := table.Rules[ruleIdx]
 
 	// Check whether the packet matches the IP header filter.
-	if !rule.Filter.match(header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader), hook, nicName) {
+	if !rule.Filter.match(header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View()), hook, nicName) {
 		// Continue on to the next rule.
 		return RuleJump, ruleIdx + 1
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables_targets.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables_targets.go
index dc88033c7..5f1b2af64 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables_targets.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/iptables_targets.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func (rt RedirectTarget) Action(pkt *PacketBuffer, ct *ConnTrack, hook Hook, gso
 	}
 
 	// Drop the packet if network and transport header are not set.
-	if pkt.NetworkHeader == nil || pkt.TransportHeader == nil {
+	if pkt.NetworkHeader().View().IsEmpty() || pkt.TransportHeader().View().IsEmpty() {
 		return RuleDrop, 0
 	}
 
@@ -118,17 +118,16 @@ func (rt RedirectTarget) Action(pkt *PacketBuffer, ct *ConnTrack, hook Hook, gso
 
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): Check Flags in RedirectTarget if
 	// we need to change dest address (for OUTPUT chain) or ports.
-	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	netHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 	switch protocol := netHeader.TransportProtocol(); protocol {
 	case header.UDPProtocolNumber:
-		udpHeader := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+		udpHeader := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 		udpHeader.SetDestinationPort(rt.MinPort)
 
 		// Calculate UDP checksum and set it.
 		if hook == Output {
 			udpHeader.SetChecksum(0)
-			hdr := &pkt.Header
-			length := uint16(pkt.Data.Size()+hdr.UsedLength()) - uint16(netHeader.HeaderLength())
+			length := uint16(pkt.Size()) - uint16(netHeader.HeaderLength())
 
 			// Only calculate the checksum if offloading isn't supported.
 			if r.Capabilities()&CapabilityTXChecksumOffload == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/ndp.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/ndp.go
index 5174e639c..93567806b 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/ndp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/ndp.go
@@ -746,12 +746,16 @@ func (ndp *ndpState) sendDADPacket(addr tcpip.Address, ref *referencedNetworkEnd
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("ndp: route resolution not immediate for route to send NDP NS for DAD (%s -> %s on NIC(%d))", header.IPv6Any, snmc, ndp.nic.ID()))
 	}
 
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicitMinimumSize)
-	pkt := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicitMinimumSize))
-	pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicit)
-	ns := header.NDPNeighborSolicit(pkt.NDPPayload())
+	icmpData := header.ICMPv6(buffer.NewView(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicitMinimumSize))
+	icmpData.SetType(header.ICMPv6NeighborSolicit)
+	ns := header.NDPNeighborSolicit(icmpData.NDPPayload())
 	ns.SetTargetAddress(addr)
-	pkt.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(pkt, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
+	icmpData.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(icmpData, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
+
+	pkt := NewPacketBuffer(PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+		Data:               buffer.View(icmpData).ToVectorisedView(),
+	})
 
 	sent := r.Stats().ICMP.V6PacketsSent
 	if err := r.WritePacket(nil,
@@ -759,7 +763,7 @@ func (ndp *ndpState) sendDADPacket(addr tcpip.Address, ref *referencedNetworkEnd
 			Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber,
 			TTL:      header.NDPHopLimit,
 			TOS:      DefaultTOS,
-		}, &PacketBuffer{Header: hdr},
+		}, pkt,
 	); err != nil {
 		sent.Dropped.Increment()
 		return err
@@ -1897,12 +1901,16 @@ func (ndp *ndpState) startSolicitingRouters() {
 			}
 		}
 		payloadSize := header.ICMPv6HeaderSize + header.NDPRSMinimumSize + int(optsSerializer.Length())
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + payloadSize)
-		pkt := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(payloadSize))
-		pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv6RouterSolicit)
-		rs := header.NDPRouterSolicit(pkt.NDPPayload())
+		icmpData := header.ICMPv6(buffer.NewView(payloadSize))
+		icmpData.SetType(header.ICMPv6RouterSolicit)
+		rs := header.NDPRouterSolicit(icmpData.NDPPayload())
 		rs.Options().Serialize(optsSerializer)
-		pkt.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(pkt, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
+		icmpData.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(icmpData, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, buffer.VectorisedView{}))
+
+		pkt := NewPacketBuffer(PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+			Data:               buffer.View(icmpData).ToVectorisedView(),
+		})
 
 		sent := r.Stats().ICMP.V6PacketsSent
 		if err := r.WritePacket(nil,
@@ -1910,7 +1918,7 @@ func (ndp *ndpState) startSolicitingRouters() {
 				Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber,
 				TTL:      header.NDPHopLimit,
 				TOS:      DefaultTOS,
-			}, &PacketBuffer{Header: hdr},
+			}, pkt,
 		); err != nil {
 			sent.Dropped.Increment()
 			log.Printf("startSolicitingRouters: error writing NDP router solicit message on NIC(%d); err = %s", ndp.nic.ID(), err)
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/nic.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/nic.go
index eaaf756cd..2315ea5b9 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/nic.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/nic.go
@@ -1299,7 +1299,7 @@ func (n *NIC) DeliverNetworkPacket(remote, local tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tcp
 		}
 	}
 
-	src, dst := netProto.ParseAddresses(pkt.NetworkHeader)
+	src, dst := netProto.ParseAddresses(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 
 	if n.stack.handleLocal && !n.isLoopback() && n.getRef(protocol, src) != nil {
 		// The source address is one of our own, so we never should have gotten a
@@ -1401,24 +1401,19 @@ func (n *NIC) DeliverOutboundPacket(remote, local tcpip.LinkAddress, protocol tc
 
 func (n *NIC) forwardPacket(r *Route, protocol tcpip.NetworkProtocolNumber, pkt *PacketBuffer) {
 	// TODO(b/143425874) Decrease the TTL field in forwarded packets.
-	// TODO(b/151227689): Avoid copying the packet when forwarding. We can do this
-	// by having lower layers explicity write each header instead of just
-	// pkt.Header.
 
-	// pkt may have set its NetworkHeader and TransportHeader. If we're
-	// forwarding, we'll have to copy them into pkt.Header.
-	pkt.Header = buffer.NewPrependable(int(n.linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()) + len(pkt.NetworkHeader) + len(pkt.TransportHeader))
-	if n := copy(pkt.Header.Prepend(len(pkt.TransportHeader)), pkt.TransportHeader); n != len(pkt.TransportHeader) {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("copied %d bytes, expected %d", n, len(pkt.TransportHeader)))
-	}
-	if n := copy(pkt.Header.Prepend(len(pkt.NetworkHeader)), pkt.NetworkHeader); n != len(pkt.NetworkHeader) {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("copied %d bytes, expected %d", n, len(pkt.NetworkHeader)))
-	}
+	// pkt may have set its header and may not have enough headroom for link-layer
+	// header for the other link to prepend. Here we create a new packet to
+	// forward.
+	fwdPkt := NewPacketBuffer(PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: int(n.linkEP.MaxHeaderLength()),
+		Data:               buffer.NewVectorisedView(pkt.Size(), pkt.Views()),
+	})
 
-	// WritePacket takes ownership of pkt, calculate numBytes first.
-	numBytes := pkt.Header.UsedLength() + pkt.Data.Size()
+	// WritePacket takes ownership of fwdPkt, calculate numBytes first.
+	numBytes := fwdPkt.Size()
 
-	if err := n.linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, protocol, pkt); err != nil {
+	if err := n.linkEP.WritePacket(r, nil /* gso */, protocol, fwdPkt); err != nil {
 		r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Increment()
 		return
 	}
@@ -1443,34 +1438,31 @@ func (n *NIC) DeliverTransportPacket(r *Route, protocol tcpip.TransportProtocolN
 	// validly formed.
 	n.stack.demux.deliverRawPacket(r, protocol, pkt)
 
-	// TransportHeader is nil only when pkt is an ICMP packet or was reassembled
+	// TransportHeader is empty only when pkt is an ICMP packet or was reassembled
 	// from fragments.
-	if pkt.TransportHeader == nil {
+	if pkt.TransportHeader().View().IsEmpty() {
 		// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): ICMP packets don't have their TransportHeader
 		// fields set yet, parse it here. See icmp/protocol.go:protocol.Parse for a
 		// full explanation.
 		if protocol == header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber || protocol == header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber {
 			// ICMP packets may be longer, but until icmp.Parse is implemented, here
 			// we parse it using the minimum size.
-			transHeader, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(transProto.MinimumPacketSize())
-			if !ok {
+			if _, ok := pkt.TransportHeader().Consume(transProto.MinimumPacketSize()); !ok {
 				n.stack.stats.MalformedRcvdPackets.Increment()
 				return
 			}
-			pkt.TransportHeader = transHeader
-			pkt.Data.TrimFront(len(pkt.TransportHeader))
 		} else {
 			// This is either a bad packet or was re-assembled from fragments.
 			transProto.Parse(pkt)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if len(pkt.TransportHeader) < transProto.MinimumPacketSize() {
+	if pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() < transProto.MinimumPacketSize() {
 		n.stack.stats.MalformedRcvdPackets.Increment()
 		return
 	}
 
-	srcPort, dstPort, err := transProto.ParsePorts(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	srcPort, dstPort, err := transProto.ParsePorts(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	if err != nil {
 		n.stack.stats.MalformedRcvdPackets.Increment()
 		return
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/packet_buffer.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/packet_buffer.go
index 9e871f968..17b8beebb 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/packet_buffer.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/packet_buffer.go
@@ -14,16 +14,43 @@
 package stack
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/sync"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip"
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip/buffer"
 )
 
+type headerType int
+
+const (
+	linkHeader headerType = iota
+	networkHeader
+	transportHeader
+	numHeaderType
+)
+
+// PacketBufferOptions specifies options for PacketBuffer creation.
+type PacketBufferOptions struct {
+	// ReserveHeaderBytes is the number of bytes to reserve for headers. Total
+	// number of bytes pushed onto the headers must not exceed this value.
+	ReserveHeaderBytes int
+
+	// Data is the initial unparsed data for the new packet. If set, it will be
+	// owned by the new packet.
+	Data buffer.VectorisedView
+}
+
 // A PacketBuffer contains all the data of a network packet.
 //
 // As a PacketBuffer traverses up the stack, it may be necessary to pass it to
-// multiple endpoints. Clone() should be called in such cases so that
-// modifications to the Data field do not affect other copies.
+// multiple endpoints.
+//
+// The whole packet is expected to be a series of bytes in the following order:
+// LinkHeader, NetworkHeader, TransportHeader, and Data. Any of them can be
+// empty. Use of PacketBuffer in any other order is unsupported.
+//
+// PacketBuffer must be created with NewPacketBuffer.
 type PacketBuffer struct {
 	_ sync.NoCopy
 
@@ -31,36 +58,27 @@ type PacketBuffer struct {
 	// PacketBuffers.
 	PacketBufferEntry
 
-	// Data holds the payload of the packet. For inbound packets, it also
-	// holds the headers, which are consumed as the packet moves up the
-	// stack. Headers are guaranteed not to be split across views.
+	// Data holds the payload of the packet.
+	//
+	// For inbound packets, Data is initially the whole packet. Then gets moved to
+	// headers via PacketHeader.Consume, when the packet is being parsed.
 	//
-	// The bytes backing Data are immutable, but Data itself may be trimmed
-	// or otherwise modified.
+	// For outbound packets, Data is the innermost layer, defined by the protocol.
+	// Headers are pushed in front of it via PacketHeader.Push.
+	//
+	// The bytes backing Data are immutable, a.k.a. users shouldn't write to its
+	// backing storage.
 	Data buffer.VectorisedView
 
-	// Header holds the headers of outbound packets. As a packet is passed
-	// down the stack, each layer adds to Header. Note that forwarded
-	// packets don't populate Headers on their way out -- their headers and
-	// payload are never parsed out and remain in Data.
-	//
-	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/170): Forwarded packets don't currently
-	// populate Header, but should. This will be doable once early parsing
-	// (https://github.com/google/gvisor/pull/1995) is supported.
-	Header buffer.Prependable
+	// headers stores metadata about each header.
+	headers [numHeaderType]headerInfo
 
-	// These fields are used by both inbound and outbound packets. They
-	// typically overlap with the Data and Header fields.
+	// header is the internal storage for outbound packets. Headers will be pushed
+	// (prepended) on this storage as the packet is being constructed.
 	//
-	// The bytes backing these views are immutable. Each field may be nil
-	// if either it has not been set yet or no such header exists (e.g.
-	// packets sent via loopback may not have a link header).
-	//
-	// These fields may be Views into other slices (either Data or Header).
-	// SR dosen't support this, so deep copies are necessary in some cases.
-	LinkHeader      buffer.View
-	NetworkHeader   buffer.View
-	TransportHeader buffer.View
+	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/2404): Switch to an implementation that header and
+	// data are held in the same underlying buffer storage.
+	header buffer.Prependable
 
 	// NetworkProtocol is only valid when NetworkHeader is set.
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3574): Remove the separately passed protocol
@@ -89,20 +107,137 @@ type PacketBuffer struct {
 	PktType tcpip.PacketType
 }
 
-// Clone makes a copy of pk. It clones the Data field, which creates a new
-// VectorisedView but does not deep copy the underlying bytes.
-//
-// Clone also does not deep copy any of its other fields.
+// NewPacketBuffer creates a new PacketBuffer with opts.
+func NewPacketBuffer(opts PacketBufferOptions) *PacketBuffer {
+	pk := &PacketBuffer{
+		Data: opts.Data,
+	}
+	if opts.ReserveHeaderBytes != 0 {
+		pk.header = buffer.NewPrependable(opts.ReserveHeaderBytes)
+	}
+	return pk
+}
+
+// ReservedHeaderBytes returns the number of bytes initially reserved for
+// headers.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) ReservedHeaderBytes() int {
+	return pk.header.UsedLength() + pk.header.AvailableLength()
+}
+
+// AvailableHeaderBytes returns the number of bytes currently available for
+// headers. This is relevant to PacketHeader.Push method only.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) AvailableHeaderBytes() int {
+	return pk.header.AvailableLength()
+}
+
+// LinkHeader returns the handle to link-layer header.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) LinkHeader() PacketHeader {
+	return PacketHeader{
+		pk:  pk,
+		typ: linkHeader,
+	}
+}
+
+// NetworkHeader returns the handle to network-layer header.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) NetworkHeader() PacketHeader {
+	return PacketHeader{
+		pk:  pk,
+		typ: networkHeader,
+	}
+}
+
+// TransportHeader returns the handle to transport-layer header.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) TransportHeader() PacketHeader {
+	return PacketHeader{
+		pk:  pk,
+		typ: transportHeader,
+	}
+}
+
+// HeaderSize returns the total size of all headers in bytes.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) HeaderSize() int {
+	// Note for inbound packets (Consume called), headers are not stored in
+	// pk.header. Thus, calculation of size of each header is needed.
+	var size int
+	for i := range pk.headers {
+		size += len(pk.headers[i].buf)
+	}
+	return size
+}
+
+// Size returns the size of packet in bytes.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) Size() int {
+	return pk.HeaderSize() + pk.Data.Size()
+}
+
+// Views returns the underlying storage of the whole packet.
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) Views() []buffer.View {
+	// Optimization for outbound packets that headers are in pk.header.
+	useHeader := true
+	for i := range pk.headers {
+		if !canUseHeader(&pk.headers[i]) {
+			useHeader = false
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	dataViews := pk.Data.Views()
+
+	var vs []buffer.View
+	if useHeader {
+		vs = make([]buffer.View, 0, 1+len(dataViews))
+		vs = append(vs, pk.header.View())
+	} else {
+		vs = make([]buffer.View, 0, len(pk.headers)+len(dataViews))
+		for i := range pk.headers {
+			if v := pk.headers[i].buf; len(v) > 0 {
+				vs = append(vs, v)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return append(vs, dataViews...)
+}
+
+func canUseHeader(h *headerInfo) bool {
+	// h.offset will be negative if the header was pushed in to prependable
+	// portion, or doesn't matter when it's empty.
+	return len(h.buf) == 0 || h.offset < 0
+}
+
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) push(typ headerType, size int) buffer.View {
+	h := &pk.headers[typ]
+	if h.buf != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("push must not be called twice: type %s", typ))
+	}
+	h.buf = buffer.View(pk.header.Prepend(size))
+	h.offset = -pk.header.UsedLength()
+	return h.buf
+}
+
+func (pk *PacketBuffer) consume(typ headerType, size int) (v buffer.View, consumed bool) {
+	h := &pk.headers[typ]
+	if h.buf != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("consume must not be called twice: type %s", typ))
+	}
+	v, ok := pk.Data.PullUp(size)
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	pk.Data.TrimFront(size)
+	h.buf = v
+	return h.buf, true
+}
+
+// Clone makes a shallow copy of pk.
 //
-// FIXME(b/153685824): Data gets copied but not other header references.
+// Clone should be called in such cases so that no modifications is done to
+// underlying packet payload.
 func (pk *PacketBuffer) Clone() *PacketBuffer {
-	return &PacketBuffer{
+	newPk := &PacketBuffer{
 		PacketBufferEntry:     pk.PacketBufferEntry,
 		Data:                  pk.Data.Clone(nil),
-		Header:                pk.Header,
-		LinkHeader:            pk.LinkHeader,
-		NetworkHeader:         pk.NetworkHeader,
-		TransportHeader:       pk.TransportHeader,
+		headers:               pk.headers,
+		header:                pk.header,
 		Hash:                  pk.Hash,
 		Owner:                 pk.Owner,
 		EgressRoute:           pk.EgressRoute,
@@ -110,4 +245,55 @@ func (pk *PacketBuffer) Clone() *PacketBuffer {
 		NetworkProtocolNumber: pk.NetworkProtocolNumber,
 		NatDone:               pk.NatDone,
 	}
+	return newPk
+}
+
+// headerInfo stores metadata about a header in a packet.
+type headerInfo struct {
+	// buf is the memorized slice for both prepended and consumed header.
+	// When header is prepended, buf serves as memorized value, which is a slice
+	// of pk.header. When header is consumed, buf is the slice pulled out from
+	// pk.Data, which is the only place to hold this header.
+	buf buffer.View
+
+	// offset will be a negative number denoting the offset where this header is
+	// from the end of pk.header, if it is prepended. Otherwise, zero.
+	offset int
+}
+
+// PacketHeader is a handle object to a header in the underlying packet.
+type PacketHeader struct {
+	pk  *PacketBuffer
+	typ headerType
+}
+
+// View returns the underlying storage of h.
+func (h PacketHeader) View() buffer.View {
+	return h.pk.headers[h.typ].buf
+}
+
+// Push pushes size bytes in the front of its residing packet, and returns the
+// backing storage. Callers may only call one of Push or Consume once on each
+// header in the lifetime of the underlying packet.
+func (h PacketHeader) Push(size int) buffer.View {
+	return h.pk.push(h.typ, size)
+}
+
+// Consume moves the first size bytes of the unparsed data portion in the packet
+// to h, and returns the backing storage. In the case of data is shorter than
+// size, consumed will be false, and the state of h will not be affected.
+// Callers may only call one of Push or Consume once on each header in the
+// lifetime of the underlying packet.
+func (h PacketHeader) Consume(size int) (v buffer.View, consumed bool) {
+	return h.pk.consume(h.typ, size)
+}
+
+// PayloadSince returns packet payload starting from and including a particular
+// header. This method isn't optimized and should be used in test only.
+func PayloadSince(h PacketHeader) buffer.View {
+	var v buffer.View
+	for _, hinfo := range h.pk.headers[h.typ:] {
+		v = append(v, hinfo.buf...)
+	}
+	return append(v, h.pk.Data.ToView()...)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/stack/route.go b/pkg/tcpip/stack/route.go
index 9ce0a2c22..e267bebb0 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/stack/route.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/stack/route.go
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func (r *Route) WritePacket(gso *GSO, params NetworkHeaderParams, pkt *PacketBuf
 	}
 
 	// WritePacket takes ownership of pkt, calculate numBytes first.
-	numBytes := pkt.Header.UsedLength() + pkt.Data.Size()
+	numBytes := pkt.Size()
 
 	err := r.ref.ep.WritePacket(r, gso, params, pkt)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -203,8 +203,7 @@ func (r *Route) WritePackets(gso *GSO, pkts PacketBufferList, params NetworkHead
 
 	writtenBytes := 0
 	for i, pb := 0, pkts.Front(); i < n && pb != nil; i, pb = i+1, pb.Next() {
-		writtenBytes += pb.Header.UsedLength()
-		writtenBytes += pb.Data.Size()
+		writtenBytes += pb.Size()
 	}
 
 	r.ref.nic.stats.Tx.Bytes.IncrementBy(uint64(writtenBytes))
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/icmp/endpoint.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/icmp/endpoint.go
index 4612be4e7..bd6f49eb8 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/icmp/endpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/icmp/endpoint.go
@@ -430,9 +430,12 @@ func send4(r *stack.Route, ident uint16, data buffer.View, ttl uint8, owner tcpi
 		return tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState
 	}
 
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()))
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: header.ICMPv4MinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+	})
+	pkt.Owner = owner
 
-	icmpv4 := header.ICMPv4(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize))
+	icmpv4 := header.ICMPv4(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize))
 	copy(icmpv4, data)
 	// Set the ident to the user-specified port. Sequence number should
 	// already be set by the user.
@@ -447,15 +450,12 @@ func send4(r *stack.Route, ident uint16, data buffer.View, ttl uint8, owner tcpi
 	icmpv4.SetChecksum(0)
 	icmpv4.SetChecksum(^header.Checksum(icmpv4, header.Checksum(data, 0)))
 
+	pkt.Data = data.ToVectorisedView()
+
 	if ttl == 0 {
 		ttl = r.DefaultTTL()
 	}
-	return r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, TTL: ttl, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header:          hdr,
-		Data:            data.ToVectorisedView(),
-		TransportHeader: buffer.View(icmpv4),
-		Owner:           owner,
-	})
+	return r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, TTL: ttl, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, pkt)
 }
 
 func send6(r *stack.Route, ident uint16, data buffer.View, ttl uint8) *tcpip.Error {
@@ -463,9 +463,11 @@ func send6(r *stack.Route, ident uint16, data buffer.View, ttl uint8) *tcpip.Err
 		return tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState
 	}
 
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(header.ICMPv6MinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()))
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: header.ICMPv6MinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+	})
 
-	icmpv6 := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6MinimumSize))
+	icmpv6 := header.ICMPv6(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv6MinimumSize))
 	copy(icmpv6, data)
 	// Set the ident. Sequence number is provided by the user.
 	icmpv6.SetIdent(ident)
@@ -477,15 +479,12 @@ func send6(r *stack.Route, ident uint16, data buffer.View, ttl uint8) *tcpip.Err
 
 	dataVV := data.ToVectorisedView()
 	icmpv6.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(icmpv6, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, dataVV))
+	pkt.Data = dataVV
 
 	if ttl == 0 {
 		ttl = r.DefaultTTL()
 	}
-	return r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: ttl, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header:          hdr,
-		Data:            dataVV,
-		TransportHeader: buffer.View(icmpv6),
-	})
+	return r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: ttl, TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, pkt)
 }
 
 // checkV4MappedLocked determines the effective network protocol and converts
@@ -748,14 +747,18 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pk
 	// Only accept echo replies.
 	switch e.NetProto {
 	case header.IPv4ProtocolNumber:
-		h := header.ICMPv4(pkt.TransportHeader)
+		h := header.ICMPv4(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
+		// TODO(b/129292233): Determine if len(h) check is still needed after early
+		// parsing.
 		if len(h) < header.ICMPv4MinimumSize || h.Type() != header.ICMPv4EchoReply {
 			e.stack.Stats().DroppedPackets.Increment()
 			e.stats.ReceiveErrors.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
 			return
 		}
 	case header.IPv6ProtocolNumber:
-		h := header.ICMPv6(pkt.TransportHeader)
+		h := header.ICMPv6(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
+		// TODO(b/129292233): Determine if len(h) check is still needed after early
+		// parsing.
 		if len(h) < header.ICMPv6MinimumSize || h.Type() != header.ICMPv6EchoReply {
 			e.stack.Stats().DroppedPackets.Increment()
 			e.stats.ReceiveErrors.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
@@ -791,7 +794,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pk
 	}
 
 	// ICMP socket's data includes ICMP header.
-	packet.data = pkt.TransportHeader.ToVectorisedView()
+	packet.data = pkt.TransportHeader().View().ToVectorisedView()
 	packet.data.Append(pkt.Data)
 
 	e.rcvList.PushBack(packet)
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/packet/endpoint.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/packet/endpoint.go
index df478115d..1b03ad6bb 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/packet/endpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/packet/endpoint.go
@@ -433,9 +433,9 @@ func (ep *endpoint) HandlePacket(nicID tcpip.NICID, localAddr tcpip.LinkAddress,
 	// Push new packet into receive list and increment the buffer size.
 	var packet packet
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/173): Return network protocol.
-	if len(pkt.LinkHeader) > 0 {
+	if !pkt.LinkHeader().View().IsEmpty() {
 		// Get info directly from the ethernet header.
-		hdr := header.Ethernet(pkt.LinkHeader)
+		hdr := header.Ethernet(pkt.LinkHeader().View())
 		packet.senderAddr = tcpip.FullAddress{
 			NIC:  nicID,
 			Addr: tcpip.Address(hdr.SourceAddress()),
@@ -458,9 +458,14 @@ func (ep *endpoint) HandlePacket(nicID tcpip.NICID, localAddr tcpip.LinkAddress,
 		case tcpip.PacketHost:
 			packet.data = pkt.Data
 		case tcpip.PacketOutgoing:
-			// Strip Link Header from the Header.
-			pkt.Header = buffer.NewPrependableFromView(pkt.Header.View()[len(pkt.LinkHeader):])
-			combinedVV := pkt.Header.View().ToVectorisedView()
+			// Strip Link Header.
+			var combinedVV buffer.VectorisedView
+			if v := pkt.NetworkHeader().View(); !v.IsEmpty() {
+				combinedVV.AppendView(v)
+			}
+			if v := pkt.TransportHeader().View(); !v.IsEmpty() {
+				combinedVV.AppendView(v)
+			}
 			combinedVV.Append(pkt.Data)
 			packet.data = combinedVV
 		default:
@@ -471,9 +476,8 @@ func (ep *endpoint) HandlePacket(nicID tcpip.NICID, localAddr tcpip.LinkAddress,
 		// Raw packets need their ethernet headers prepended before
 		// queueing.
 		var linkHeader buffer.View
-		var combinedVV buffer.VectorisedView
 		if pkt.PktType != tcpip.PacketOutgoing {
-			if len(pkt.LinkHeader) == 0 {
+			if pkt.LinkHeader().View().IsEmpty() {
 				// We weren't provided with an actual ethernet header,
 				// so fake one.
 				ethFields := header.EthernetFields{
@@ -485,19 +489,14 @@ func (ep *endpoint) HandlePacket(nicID tcpip.NICID, localAddr tcpip.LinkAddress,
 				fakeHeader.Encode(&ethFields)
 				linkHeader = buffer.View(fakeHeader)
 			} else {
-				linkHeader = append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.LinkHeader...)
+				linkHeader = append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.LinkHeader().View()...)
 			}
-			combinedVV = linkHeader.ToVectorisedView()
-		}
-		if pkt.PktType == tcpip.PacketOutgoing {
-			// For outgoing packets the Link, Network and Transport
-			// headers are in the pkt.Header fields normally unless
-			// a Raw socket is in use in which case pkt.Header could
-			// be nil.
-			combinedVV.AppendView(pkt.Header.View())
+			combinedVV := linkHeader.ToVectorisedView()
+			combinedVV.Append(pkt.Data)
+			packet.data = combinedVV
+		} else {
+			packet.data = buffer.NewVectorisedView(pkt.Size(), pkt.Views())
 		}
-		combinedVV.Append(pkt.Data)
-		packet.data = combinedVV
 	}
 	packet.timestampNS = ep.stack.Clock().NowNanoseconds()
 
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/raw/endpoint.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/raw/endpoint.go
index f85a68554..edc2b5b61 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/raw/endpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/raw/endpoint.go
@@ -352,18 +352,23 @@ func (e *endpoint) finishWrite(payloadBytes []byte, route *stack.Route) (int64,
 	}
 
 	if e.hdrIncluded {
-		if err := route.WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(&stack.PacketBuffer{
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
 			Data: buffer.View(payloadBytes).ToVectorisedView(),
-		}); err != nil {
+		})
+		if err := route.WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(pkt); err != nil {
 			return 0, nil, err
 		}
 	} else {
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(len(payloadBytes) + int(route.MaxHeaderLength()))
-		if err := route.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: e.TransProto, TTL: route.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header: hdr,
-			Data:   buffer.View(payloadBytes).ToVectorisedView(),
-			Owner:  e.owner,
-		}); err != nil {
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: int(route.MaxHeaderLength()),
+			Data:               buffer.View(payloadBytes).ToVectorisedView(),
+		})
+		pkt.Owner = e.owner
+		if err := route.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{
+			Protocol: e.TransProto,
+			TTL:      route.DefaultTTL(),
+			TOS:      stack.DefaultTOS,
+		}, pkt); err != nil {
 			return 0, nil, err
 		}
 	}
@@ -691,12 +696,13 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(route *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	// slice. Save/restore doesn't support overlapping slices and will fail.
 	var combinedVV buffer.VectorisedView
 	if e.TransportEndpointInfo.NetProto == header.IPv4ProtocolNumber {
-		headers := make(buffer.View, 0, len(pkt.NetworkHeader)+len(pkt.TransportHeader))
-		headers = append(headers, pkt.NetworkHeader...)
-		headers = append(headers, pkt.TransportHeader...)
+		network, transport := pkt.NetworkHeader().View(), pkt.TransportHeader().View()
+		headers := make(buffer.View, 0, len(network)+len(transport))
+		headers = append(headers, network...)
+		headers = append(headers, transport...)
 		combinedVV = headers.ToVectorisedView()
 	} else {
-		combinedVV = append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.TransportHeader...).ToVectorisedView()
+		combinedVV = append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.TransportHeader().View()...).ToVectorisedView()
 	}
 	combinedVV.Append(pkt.Data)
 	packet.data = combinedVV
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/connect.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/connect.go
index 46702906b..290172ac9 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/connect.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/connect.go
@@ -746,11 +746,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) sendTCP(r *stack.Route, tf tcpFields, data buffer.VectorisedV
 
 func buildTCPHdr(r *stack.Route, tf tcpFields, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, gso *stack.GSO) {
 	optLen := len(tf.opts)
-	hdr := &pkt.Header
-	packetSize := pkt.Data.Size()
-	// Initialize the header.
-	tcp := header.TCP(hdr.Prepend(header.TCPMinimumSize + optLen))
-	pkt.TransportHeader = buffer.View(tcp)
+	tcp := header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.TCPMinimumSize + optLen))
 	tcp.Encode(&header.TCPFields{
 		SrcPort:    tf.id.LocalPort,
 		DstPort:    tf.id.RemotePort,
@@ -762,8 +758,7 @@ func buildTCPHdr(r *stack.Route, tf tcpFields, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, gso *sta
 	})
 	copy(tcp[header.TCPMinimumSize:], tf.opts)
 
-	length := uint16(hdr.UsedLength() + packetSize)
-	xsum := r.PseudoHeaderChecksum(ProtocolNumber, length)
+	xsum := r.PseudoHeaderChecksum(ProtocolNumber, uint16(pkt.Size()))
 	// Only calculate the checksum if offloading isn't supported.
 	if gso != nil && gso.NeedsCsum {
 		// This is called CHECKSUM_PARTIAL in the Linux kernel. We
@@ -801,17 +796,18 @@ func sendTCPBatch(r *stack.Route, tf tcpFields, data buffer.VectorisedView, gso
 			packetSize = size
 		}
 		size -= packetSize
-		var pkt stack.PacketBuffer
-		pkt.Header = buffer.NewPrependable(hdrSize)
+		pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: hdrSize,
+		})
 		pkt.Hash = tf.txHash
 		pkt.Owner = owner
 		pkt.EgressRoute = r
 		pkt.GSOOptions = gso
 		pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = r.NetworkProtocolNumber()
 		data.ReadToVV(&pkt.Data, packetSize)
-		buildTCPHdr(r, tf, &pkt, gso)
+		buildTCPHdr(r, tf, pkt, gso)
 		tf.seq = tf.seq.Add(seqnum.Size(packetSize))
-		pkts.PushBack(&pkt)
+		pkts.PushBack(pkt)
 	}
 
 	if tf.ttl == 0 {
@@ -837,12 +833,12 @@ func sendTCP(r *stack.Route, tf tcpFields, data buffer.VectorisedView, gso *stac
 		return sendTCPBatch(r, tf, data, gso, owner)
 	}
 
-	pkt := &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header: buffer.NewPrependable(header.TCPMinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + optLen),
-		Data:   data,
-		Hash:   tf.txHash,
-		Owner:  owner,
-	}
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: header.TCPMinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + optLen,
+		Data:               data,
+	})
+	pkt.Hash = tf.txHash
+	pkt.Owner = owner
 	buildTCPHdr(r, tf, pkt, gso)
 
 	if tf.ttl == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/protocol.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/protocol.go
index 49a673b42..c5afa2680 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/protocol.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/protocol.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 package tcp
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -547,22 +546,22 @@ func (p *protocol) SynRcvdCounter() *synRcvdCounter {
 
 // Parse implements stack.TransportProtocol.Parse.
 func (*protocol) Parse(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) bool {
-	hdr, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(header.TCPMinimumSize)
+	// TCP header is variable length, peek at it first.
+	hdrLen := header.TCPMinimumSize
+	hdr, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(hdrLen)
 	if !ok {
 		return false
 	}
 
 	// If the header has options, pull those up as well.
 	if offset := int(header.TCP(hdr).DataOffset()); offset > header.TCPMinimumSize && offset <= pkt.Data.Size() {
-		hdr, ok = pkt.Data.PullUp(offset)
-		if !ok {
-			panic(fmt.Sprintf("There should be at least %d bytes in pkt.Data.", offset))
-		}
+		// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/2404): Figure out whether to reject this kind of
+		// packets.
+		hdrLen = offset
 	}
 
-	pkt.TransportHeader = hdr
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(len(hdr))
-	return true
+	_, ok = pkt.TransportHeader().Consume(hdrLen)
+	return ok
 }
 
 // NewProtocol returns a TCP transport protocol.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/segment.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/segment.go
index bb60dc29d..94307d31a 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/segment.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp/segment.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func newSegment(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pkt *stack.PacketB
 		route:  r.Clone(),
 	}
 	s.data = pkt.Data.Clone(s.views[:])
-	s.hdr = header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	s.hdr = header.TCP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	s.rcvdTime = time.Now()
 	return s
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/endpoint.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/endpoint.go
index 4a2b6c03a..73608783c 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/endpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/endpoint.go
@@ -986,13 +986,16 @@ func (e *endpoint) GetSockOpt(opt interface{}) *tcpip.Error {
 // sendUDP sends a UDP segment via the provided network endpoint and under the
 // provided identity.
 func sendUDP(r *stack.Route, data buffer.VectorisedView, localPort, remotePort uint16, ttl uint8, useDefaultTTL bool, tos uint8, owner tcpip.PacketOwner, noChecksum bool) *tcpip.Error {
-	// Allocate a buffer for the UDP header.
-	hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(header.UDPMinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()))
+	pkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+		ReserveHeaderBytes: header.UDPMinimumSize + int(r.MaxHeaderLength()),
+		Data:               data,
+	})
+	pkt.Owner = owner
 
-	// Initialize the header.
-	udp := header.UDP(hdr.Prepend(header.UDPMinimumSize))
+	// Initialize the UDP header.
+	udp := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.UDPMinimumSize))
 
-	length := uint16(hdr.UsedLength() + data.Size())
+	length := uint16(pkt.Size())
 	udp.Encode(&header.UDPFields{
 		SrcPort: localPort,
 		DstPort: remotePort,
@@ -1019,12 +1022,7 @@ func sendUDP(r *stack.Route, data buffer.VectorisedView, localPort, remotePort u
 		Protocol: ProtocolNumber,
 		TTL:      ttl,
 		TOS:      tos,
-	}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-		Header:          hdr,
-		Data:            data,
-		TransportHeader: buffer.View(udp),
-		Owner:           owner,
-	}); err != nil {
+	}, pkt); err != nil {
 		r.Stats().UDP.PacketSendErrors.Increment()
 		return err
 	}
@@ -1372,7 +1370,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) Readiness(mask waiter.EventMask) waiter.EventMask {
 // endpoint.
 func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 	// Get the header then trim it from the view.
-	hdr := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	hdr := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	if int(hdr.Length()) > pkt.Data.Size()+header.UDPMinimumSize {
 		// Malformed packet.
 		e.stack.Stats().UDP.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
@@ -1443,9 +1441,9 @@ func (e *endpoint) HandlePacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pk
 	// Save any useful information from the network header to the packet.
 	switch r.NetProto {
 	case header.IPv4ProtocolNumber:
-		packet.tos, _ = header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader).TOS()
+		packet.tos, _ = header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View()).TOS()
 	case header.IPv6ProtocolNumber:
-		packet.tos, _ = header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader).TOS()
+		packet.tos, _ = header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().View()).TOS()
 	}
 
 	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3556): r.LocalAddress may be a multicast or broadcast
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/protocol.go b/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/protocol.go
index 0e7464e3a..63d4bed7c 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/protocol.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/transport/udp/protocol.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func (*protocol) ParsePorts(v buffer.View) (src, dst uint16, err *tcpip.Error) {
 // HandleUnknownDestinationPacket handles packets targeted at this protocol but
 // that don't match any existing endpoint.
 func (p *protocol) HandleUnknownDestinationPacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.TransportEndpointID, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) bool {
-	hdr := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader)
+	hdr := header.UDP(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	if int(hdr.Length()) > pkt.Data.Size()+header.UDPMinimumSize {
 		// Malformed packet.
 		r.Stack().Stats().UDP.MalformedPacketsReceived.Increment()
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func (p *protocol) HandleUnknownDestinationPacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.Trans
 		}
 		headerLen := int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv4MinimumSize
 		available := int(mtu) - headerLen
-		payloadLen := len(pkt.NetworkHeader) + len(pkt.TransportHeader) + pkt.Data.Size()
+		payloadLen := pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size() + pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() + pkt.Data.Size()
 		if payloadLen > available {
 			payloadLen = available
 		}
@@ -139,22 +139,21 @@ func (p *protocol) HandleUnknownDestinationPacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.Trans
 		// For example, a raw or packet socket may use what UDP
 		// considers an unreachable destination. Thus we deep copy pkt
 		// to prevent multiple ownership and SR errors.
-		newHeader := append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.NetworkHeader...)
-		newHeader = append(newHeader, pkt.TransportHeader...)
+		newHeader := append(buffer.View(nil), pkt.NetworkHeader().View()...)
+		newHeader = append(newHeader, pkt.TransportHeader().View()...)
 		payload := newHeader.ToVectorisedView()
 		payload.AppendView(pkt.Data.ToView())
 		payload.CapLength(payloadLen)
 
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(headerLen)
-		pkt := header.ICMPv4(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize))
-		pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv4DstUnreachable)
-		pkt.SetCode(header.ICMPv4PortUnreachable)
-		pkt.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv4Checksum(pkt, payload))
-		r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header:          hdr,
-			TransportHeader: buffer.View(pkt),
-			Data:            payload,
+		icmpPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: headerLen,
+			Data:               payload,
 		})
+		icmpHdr := header.ICMPv4(icmpPkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv4MinimumSize))
+		icmpHdr.SetType(header.ICMPv4DstUnreachable)
+		icmpHdr.SetCode(header.ICMPv4PortUnreachable)
+		icmpHdr.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv4Checksum(icmpHdr, icmpPkt.Data))
+		r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, icmpPkt)
 
 	case header.IPv6AddressSize:
 		if !r.Stack().AllowICMPMessage() {
@@ -175,24 +174,24 @@ func (p *protocol) HandleUnknownDestinationPacket(r *stack.Route, id stack.Trans
 		}
 		headerLen := int(r.MaxHeaderLength()) + header.ICMPv6DstUnreachableMinimumSize
 		available := int(mtu) - headerLen
-		payloadLen := len(pkt.NetworkHeader) + len(pkt.TransportHeader) + pkt.Data.Size()
+		network, transport := pkt.NetworkHeader().View(), pkt.TransportHeader().View()
+		payloadLen := len(network) + len(transport) + pkt.Data.Size()
 		if payloadLen > available {
 			payloadLen = available
 		}
-		payload := buffer.NewVectorisedView(len(pkt.NetworkHeader)+len(pkt.TransportHeader), []buffer.View{pkt.NetworkHeader, pkt.TransportHeader})
+		payload := buffer.NewVectorisedView(len(network)+len(transport), []buffer.View{network, transport})
 		payload.Append(pkt.Data)
 		payload.CapLength(payloadLen)
 
-		hdr := buffer.NewPrependable(headerLen)
-		pkt := header.ICMPv6(hdr.Prepend(header.ICMPv6DstUnreachableMinimumSize))
-		pkt.SetType(header.ICMPv6DstUnreachable)
-		pkt.SetCode(header.ICMPv6PortUnreachable)
-		pkt.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(pkt, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, payload))
-		r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, &stack.PacketBuffer{
-			Header:          hdr,
-			TransportHeader: buffer.View(pkt),
-			Data:            payload,
+		icmpPkt := stack.NewPacketBuffer(stack.PacketBufferOptions{
+			ReserveHeaderBytes: headerLen,
+			Data:               payload,
 		})
+		icmpHdr := header.ICMPv6(icmpPkt.TransportHeader().Push(header.ICMPv6DstUnreachableMinimumSize))
+		icmpHdr.SetType(header.ICMPv6DstUnreachable)
+		icmpHdr.SetCode(header.ICMPv6PortUnreachable)
+		icmpHdr.SetChecksum(header.ICMPv6Checksum(icmpHdr, r.LocalAddress, r.RemoteAddress, icmpPkt.Data))
+		r.WritePacket(nil /* gso */, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{Protocol: header.ICMPv6ProtocolNumber, TTL: r.DefaultTTL(), TOS: stack.DefaultTOS}, icmpPkt)
 	}
 	return true
 }
@@ -215,14 +214,8 @@ func (*protocol) Wait() {}
 
 // Parse implements stack.TransportProtocol.Parse.
 func (*protocol) Parse(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) bool {
-	h, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(header.UDPMinimumSize)
-	if !ok {
-		// Packet is too small
-		return false
-	}
-	pkt.TransportHeader = h
-	pkt.Data.TrimFront(header.UDPMinimumSize)
-	return true
+	_, ok := pkt.TransportHeader().Consume(header.UDPMinimumSize)
+	return ok
 }
 
 // NewProtocol returns a UDP transport protocol.