Hi there,
I think this could be related to the fact that current kernel packages naming convention don't match the regular _expression_ in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove.
There are some '.' that the regular _expression_ doesn't take care of.
NeverAutoRemove
{
"^firmware-linux.*";
"^linux-firmware$";
"^linux-image-[a-z0-9]*$";
"^linux-image-[a-z0-9]*-[a-z0-9]*$";
};
Regards