diff --git a/changelog/11842.bugfix.rst b/changelog/11842.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a11b110f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/11842.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Properly escape the ``reason`` of a :ref:`skip <pytest.mark.skip ref>` mark when writing JUnit XML files.
diff --git a/doc/en/how-to/writing_plugins.rst b/doc/en/how-to/writing_plugins.rst
index d907ae398..4bb6d1833 100644
--- a/doc/en/how-to/writing_plugins.rst
+++ b/doc/en/how-to/writing_plugins.rst
@@ -46,24 +46,18 @@ Plugin discovery order at tool startup
 
 5. by loading all plugins specified through the :envvar:`PYTEST_PLUGINS` environment variable.
 
-6. by loading all :file:`conftest.py` files as inferred by the command line
-   invocation:
+6. by loading all "initial ":file:`conftest.py` files:
 
-   - if no test paths are specified, use the current dir as a test path
-   - if exists, load ``conftest.py`` and ``test*/conftest.py`` relative
-     to the directory part of the first test path. After the ``conftest.py``
-     file is loaded, load all plugins specified in its
-     :globalvar:`pytest_plugins` variable if present.
-
-   Note that pytest does not find ``conftest.py`` files in deeper nested
-   sub directories at tool startup.  It is usually a good idea to keep
-   your ``conftest.py`` file in the top level test or project root directory.
-
-7. by recursively loading all plugins specified by the
-   :globalvar:`pytest_plugins` variable in ``conftest.py`` files.
+   - determine the test paths: specified on the command line, otherwise in
+     :confval:`testpaths` if defined and running from the rootdir, otherwise the
+     current dir
+   - for each test path, load ``conftest.py`` and ``test*/conftest.py`` relative
+     to the directory part of the test path, if exist. Before a ``conftest.py``
+     file is loaded, load ``conftest.py`` files in all of its parent directories.
+     After a ``conftest.py`` file is loaded, recursively load all plugins specified
+     in its :globalvar:`pytest_plugins` variable if present.
 
 
-.. _`pytest/plugin`: http://bitbucket.org/pytest-dev/pytest/src/tip/pytest/plugin/
 .. _`conftest.py plugins`:
 .. _`localplugin`:
 .. _`local conftest plugins`:
@@ -108,9 +102,9 @@ Here is how you might run it::
     See also: :ref:`pythonpath`.
 
 .. note::
-    Some hooks should be implemented only in plugins or conftest.py files situated at the
-    tests root directory due to how pytest discovers plugins during startup,
-    see the documentation of each hook for details.
+    Some hooks cannot be implemented in conftest.py files which are not
+    :ref:`initial <pluginorder>` due to how pytest discovers plugins during
+    startup. See the documentation of each hook for details.
 
 Writing your own plugin
 -----------------------
diff --git a/src/_pytest/junitxml.py b/src/_pytest/junitxml.py
index 9ee35b84e..c8032e158 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/junitxml.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/junitxml.py
@@ -248,7 +248,9 @@ class _NodeReporter:
                 skipreason = skipreason[9:]
             details = f"{filename}:{lineno}: {skipreason}"
 
-            skipped = ET.Element("skipped", type="pytest.skip", message=skipreason)
+            skipped = ET.Element(
+                "skipped", type="pytest.skip", message=bin_xml_escape(skipreason)
+            )
             skipped.text = bin_xml_escape(details)
             self.append(skipped)
             self.write_captured_output(report)
diff --git a/testing/test_junitxml.py b/testing/test_junitxml.py
index 3f88c21e2..b0c2d1c6d 100644
--- a/testing/test_junitxml.py
+++ b/testing/test_junitxml.py
@@ -1653,6 +1653,23 @@ def test_escaped_skipreason_issue3533(
     snode.assert_attr(message="1 <> 2")
 
 
+def test_bin_escaped_skipreason(pytester: Pytester, run_and_parse: RunAndParse) -> None:
+    """Escape special characters from mark.skip reason (#11842)."""
+    pytester.makepyfile(
+        """
+        import pytest
+        @pytest.mark.skip("\33[31;1mred\33[0m")
+        def test_skip():
+            pass
+    """
+    )
+    _, dom = run_and_parse()
+    node = dom.find_first_by_tag("testcase")
+    snode = node.find_first_by_tag("skipped")
+    assert "#x1B[31;1mred#x1B[0m" in snode.text
+    snode.assert_attr(message="#x1B[31;1mred#x1B[0m")
+
+
 def test_escaped_setup_teardown_error(
     pytester: Pytester, run_and_parse: RunAndParse
 ) -> None: