Two goals in as many second-half minutes from Regan Slater earned Liam Rosenior his first win as Hull boss as his side came from behind to win 3-2 at Cardiff City Stadium.
Having taken the lead with a fourth-minute goal from Dimitrios Pelkas, Hull were 1-0 ahead at the break.
The home fans booed their side off the field at half-time, but had something to cheer soon after as they levelled through Callum Robinson and then took the lead in the 62nd minute courtesy of Gavin Whyte.
However, Slater struck twice in quick succession to move Hull level with Cardiff, four points above the Championship relegation zone.
Hull got off to a flying start as they took the lead after only four minutes.
Sheyi Ojo lost the ball, and failed to win a free-kick, 30 yards out to surrender possession. Six passes later the Tigers had created enough space on the left for skipper Jacob Greaves to whip in a cross that went past Ryan Longman at the near post, but was a gift for Pelkas to tap in from the edge of the six-yard box.
The visitors continued to boss the game with their patient build-ups from the back and the only reply from Cardiff came in the form of a shot from outside the area by skipper Joe Ralls.
The left hand of home goalkeeper Ryan Allsop saved his side as he made a fingertip stop from a fierce shot from outside the area by Greg Docherty five minutes later and the Hull assault on the Cardiff goal continued.
A Cyrus Christie cross from the right provided Longman with a simple header on the edge of the six-yard box that he somehow managed to steer wide instead of score.
That was a huge let-off for the home side who were too often guilty of losing the ball and chasing shadows for much of the first half.
Cardiff left the field at half-time one goal down and with the boos from their fans ringing in their ears.
If there had been little to cheer in the opening 45 minutes, it did not take long for the Cardiff fans to wake up after the break as Robinson levelled things up 90 seconds after the re-start.
Hull goalkeeper Nathan Baxter played with fire in front of his own goal and his third short pass to a team-mate put Jean-Michael Seri in trouble as he ran back towards the penalty spot to try to lay it off to a defender. Ralls stepped in, the ball fell to Robinson and he had the simple task of stroking the ball into an empty net.
Robinson, returning to action after serving a three-match ban for his red card in the south Wales derby, then turned provider with a cross that Whyte headed home.
Cardiff were on top at that stage, but Slater completely transformed the game when he held off Ralls on the edge of the area to fire home a low shot into the left corner of Allsop's net.
Two minutes later he was involved in the build-up to a raid down the left flank that ended with him side-footing home the winner in the 77th minute.
Cardiff City: Allsop; Romeo, Ng, Nelson, Nkounkou (Whyte 58'); Rinomhota, Ralls; Ojo (Colwill 76'), Sawyers (Harris 58'), O'Dowda; Robinson. Subs not used: Alnwick, Bagan, Etete, Sang.
Hull City: Baxter; Christie, Figueiredo, Jones, Greaves; Seri, Woods (Tufan 62'); Docherty, Pelkas (Sinik 73'), Slater; Longman (Coyle 84'). Subs not used: Ingram, McLoughlin, Fleming, T. Smith.