Being 0.x could also just mean "we're not 100% certain we don't want to change any API" yet. Semver is about stability guarantees (promises), bugs is somewhat independent for a widely used and well-maintained library.
I can't find support for that interpretation in the Semantic Versioning spec: "Major version zero (0.y.z) is for initial development. Anything may change at any time. The public API should not be considered stable."
That means 0.x software is in "initial development" implying no guarantee on how many bugs it can contain and no guarantees regarding maintainership. Other parts of the spec deals with backwards-incompatible api changes.
I know where your interpretation comes from. It comes from users of software who believe that a 0.x version can be relied upon. Because it works for them and they haven't found any bugs. Software publishers on the other hand, never makes that claim and users to whom stability is important should stay away from 0.x software.
Agreed that the publishers don't make that claim. However, I know that many publishers are hesitant to go 1.0. Not because they think there are too many bugs, but because they are afraid of committing to not changing the API.
