I think you modified the user:group and the perms because they are wrong.
Here an example with the right perms:
❯ namei -mo /etc/exim4/domains/example.net/passwd
f: /etc/exim4/domains/example.net/passwd
drwxr-xr-x root root /
drwxr-xr-x root root etc
drwxr-xr-x root root exim4
drwxr-xr-x root root domains
lrwxrwxrwx root root example.net -> /home/test/conf/mail/example.net
drwxr-xr-x root root /
drwxr-xr-x root root home
drwxr-xr-x root root test
drwxr-xr-x root root conf
drwxr-xr-x root root mail
drwxrwx--x Debian-exim mail example.net
-rw-rw---- dovecot mail passwd