"FatalError" appears during STSADM import routine and "Access Denied" errors occur when editing document or list item properties

One of my customers reported the message "FatalError: Value does not fall within the expected range" during the "Importing List Master Page Gallery" process when using the STSADM import command to restore an STSADM export file over a new site collection. Running the STSADM import routine a second time on the site collection successfully completes with no errors or warnings.

I have since discovered that this issue was present after the customer installed the Infrastructure Updates for SharePoint and is now fixed in the December Cumulative updates package.

However, they have also reported another problem after testing a site restored using the STSADM import routine. All existing document libraries and lists created before the export are fine, but if they create a new document library or list in a site collection restored using the import command and edit the properties of a document or list item, they receive the message "Access Denied" with the standard message asking them to sign in as another user - even if they are the site collection administrator.

I raised a PSS call regarding this issue and a hotfix is currently being developed to resolve it, although the hotfix will only fix new site collections restored using the import command AFTER the fix has been applied. Any existing site collections where the issue currently occurs will remain broken. The hotfix should be available in the next cumulative update release.