Acho que esse é o comportamento padrão do POSIX, conforme declarado na página do manual :
-k field_start[type][,field_end[type]]
shall define a key field that begins at field_start and ends at field_end inclusive, unless field_start falls beyond the end of the line or after field_end, in which case the key field is empty. A missing field_end shall mean the last character of the line.