Investments (Amortized Cost And Fair Value Of Available-For-Sale and Held-To-Maturity Investment Portfolios) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
U S Treasury And Government [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	$ 541	$ 782
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	5	54
Gross unrealized losses	(38)	(2)
Total available-for-sale, fair value	508	834
US States And Political Subdivisions [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	173	140
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	2	27
Gross unrealized losses	(11)	0
Total available-for-sale, fair value	164	167
Foreign Governments [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	23	13
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	0	1
Gross unrealized losses	(3)	0
Total available-for-sale, fair value	20	14
Corporate Obligations [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	862	905
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	1	53
Gross unrealized losses	(148)	(5)
Total available-for-sale, fair value	715	953
Residential Mortgage-Backed Agency [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	217	190
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	0	3
Gross unrealized losses	(22)	(1)
Total available-for-sale, fair value	195	192
Residential Mortgage-Backed Non-Agency [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	96	80
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	3	12
Gross unrealized losses	(11)	0
Total available-for-sale, fair value	88	92
Commercial Mortgage-Backed [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	24	10
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	0	0
Gross unrealized losses	(1)	0
Total available-for-sale, fair value	23	10
Collateralized Debt Obligations [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	117	101
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	0	0
Gross unrealized losses	(5)	0
Total available-for-sale, fair value	112	101
Other Asset-Backed [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	110	95
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	0	0
Gross unrealized losses	(4)	(1)
Total available-for-sale, fair value	106	94
Fixed Maturities [Member]
Available For Sale Securities [Abstract]
Total available-for-sale, amortized cost	2,163	2,316
Allowance for Credit Losess	0	0
Gross unrealized gains	11	150
Gross unrealized losses	(243)	(9)
Total available-for-sale, fair value	$ 1,931	$ 2,457

Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126970911&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126970911&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amortized cost of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126970911&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124258926&loc=SL82898722-210454

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(6))
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126897435&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124258926&loc=SL82898722-210454

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124260329&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126970911&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebtSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of allowance for credit loss on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124269663&loc=SL82922900-210455

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (i)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124269663&loc=SL82922900-210455

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aaa)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126970911&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124258926&loc=SL82898722-210454

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtSecuritiesAvailableForSaleAllowanceForCreditLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USTreasuryAndGovernmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USStatesAndPoliticalSubdivisionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_ForeignGovernmentDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CorporateDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=mbi_ResidentialMortgageBackedAgencyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=mbi_ResidentialMortgageBackedNonAgencyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CommercialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CollateralizedDebtObligationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=mbi_OtherAssetBackedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_FixedMaturitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: