Current limit and current gain bjt question

The simulation result is correct. What you are seeing is Ibc: Current flowing from base to collector. Remember that the base collector junction is forward-biased.

Normally we don't think about the current flowing in that direction. But it can/does.

In saturation, some base current flows to the collector. The net flow may be from outside of the transistor into the collector, but that does not mean that Ibc = 0. This is something I did not fully grasp until quite recently, and I even down-voted someone over it. I mean, I am sure I knew it at one time when I was in school. But I must have forgotten it long ago.

This is simply not true, the Early effect is present in the common-base configuration as well.

A good example is the cascode configuration, where the cascode transistor is in a CB configuration. Rout depends on the early effect, however it is reduced because of negative feedback. Additional current through a cascode stage decreases Vbe of the cascode transistor, which reduces the impact of the Early effect.