diff --git a/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/__fixtures__/errors-with-special-xml-strings.json b/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/__fixtures__/errors-with-special-xml-strings.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93aeda09f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/__fixtures__/errors-with-special-xml-strings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+[
+  {
+    "code": "special-xml-strings",
+    "message": "start ' \" < > end",
+    "path": [
+      "root",
+      "'",
+      "\"",
+      "leaf"
+    ],
+    "severity": 0,
+    "source": "",
+    "range": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 0,
+        "character": 0
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 0,
+        "character": 0
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "code": "special-cdata-strings",
+    "message": "start <![CDATA[ ]]> <![CDATA[ end",
+    "path": [
+      "root",
+      "]]>",
+      "<![CDATA[",
+      "leaf"
+    ],
+    "severity": 0,
+    "source": "",
+    "range": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 0,
+        "character": 0
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 0,
+        "character": 0
+      }
+    }
+  }
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/junit.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/junit.test.ts
index 38b0b865c..db5c61cab 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/junit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/formatters/__tests__/junit.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { DiagnosticSeverity } from '@stoplight/types';
 
 const oas3SchemaErrors = require('./__fixtures__/oas3-schema-errors.json');
 const mixedErrors = require('./__fixtures__/mixed-errors.json');
+const specialXmlStrings = require('./__fixtures__/errors-with-special-xml-strings.json');
 
 describe('JUnit formatter', () => {
   let parse: Parser['parseStringPromise'];
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ describe('JUnit formatter', () => {
                     $: {
                       message: "should have required property '$ref'",
                     },
-                    _: 'line 36, col 22, should have required property &apos;$ref&apos; (oas3-schema) at path #/paths/~1pets/get/responses/200/headers/header-1',
+                    _: "line 36, col 22, should have required property '$ref' (oas3-schema) at path #/paths/~1pets/get/responses/200/headers/header-1",
                   },
                 ],
               },
@@ -168,4 +169,56 @@ describe('JUnit formatter', () => {
       },
     });
   });
+
+  test('handles special XML strings properly', async () => {
+    const result = await parse(junit(specialXmlStrings, { failSeverity: DiagnosticSeverity.Error }));
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      testsuites: {
+        testsuite: [
+          {
+            $: {
+              errors: '0',
+              failures: '2',
+              name: '',
+              package: 'org.spectral',
+              tests: '2',
+              time: '0',
+            },
+            testcase: [
+              {
+                $: {
+                  classname: '',
+                  name: 'org.spectral.special-xml-strings',
+                  time: '0',
+                },
+                failure: [
+                  {
+                    $: {
+                      message: 'start \' " < > end',
+                    },
+                    _: 'line 1, col 1, start \' " < > end (special-xml-strings) at path #/root/\'/"/leaf',
+                  },
+                ],
+              },
+              {
+                $: {
+                  classname: '',
+                  name: 'org.spectral.special-cdata-strings',
+                  time: '0',
+                },
+                failure: [
+                  {
+                    $: {
+                      message: 'start <![CDATA[ ]]> <![CDATA[ end',
+                    },
+                    _: 'line 1, col 1, start <![CDATA[ ]]> <![CDATA[ end (special-cdata-strings) at path #/root/]]>/<![CDATA[/leaf',
+                  },
+                ],
+              },
+            ],
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/formatters/junit.ts b/packages/cli/src/formatters/junit.ts
index b8faa1252..2bd8268e4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/formatters/junit.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/formatters/junit.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ import { printPath, PrintStyle } from '@stoplight/spectral-runtime';
 import { Formatter } from './types';
 import { groupBySource, xmlEscape } from './utils';
 
+/**
+ * Prepares the given text for inclusion in an XML CDATA section.
+ */
+function prepareForCdata(text: string): string {
+  return text.replace(']]>', ']]]]><![CDATA[>');
+}
+
 export const junit: Formatter = (results, { failSeverity }) => {
   let output = '';
 
@@ -50,8 +57,8 @@ export const junit: Formatter = (results, { failSeverity }) => {
         output += `<failure message="${xmlEscape(result.message)}">`;
         output += '<![CDATA[';
         output += `line ${result.range.start.line + 1}, col ${result.range.start.character + 1}, `;
-        output += `${xmlEscape(result.message)} (${result.code}) `;
-        output += `at path ${xmlEscape(printPath(result.path, PrintStyle.EscapedPointer))}`;
+        output += `${prepareForCdata(result.message)} (${result.code}) `;
+        output += `at path ${prepareForCdata(printPath(result.path, PrintStyle.EscapedPointer))}`;
         output += ']]>';
         output += `</failure>`;
         output += '</testcase>\n';