Freedman, who did not enjoy the greatest of times when he was at Wolves, was jeered by the home fans when he was sent on with just 17 minutes remaining.
The Scottish striker looked to have blown his chance to earn Palace a share of the spoils when he lifted his close-range shot over the bar in the 80th minute.
But he proved more clinical when presented with a second chance six minutes from time.
Freedman was set-up by a flick on from fellow substitute Shefki Kuqi and drilled his shot past goalkeeper Matt Murray to take Palace's points tally to five from their last three games.
It ruined the earlier celebrations of Wolves' rookie wing-wizard Lewis Gobern after he scored his first goal for the club.
Gobern somewhat luckily curled home a 35-yard free-kick through a crowded goalmouth in the 63rd minute only for Freedman to ruin his evening.
In front of a sparsely populated Molineux, Wolves struggled to display the passion that they had produced against Sunderland in their previous game.
It was no surprise they needed a slice of luck to break the deadlock.
Initially, there appeared to be little danger when Mark Hudson fouled Leon Clarke just in from the left-wing.
Gobern swung the resulting free-kick into the packed goalmouth and it somehow managed to find its way into the back of the net as goalkeeper Iain Turner looked to be distracted by the presence of Clarke in front of him.
Inspiration and invention was sadly lacking from both sides in a frustrating opening when the only highlight was the pace of Palace winger Jobi McAnuff, who belatedly came up with the first shot of the game when he forced Murray into a 16th minute save.
Ironically after such a lack of action, Wolves burst into life and enjoyed a purple patch of four minutes that should have seen them take the lead.
Clarke's 17th minute header was deflected wide before Daniel Jones got Molineux buzzing when he went on a mazy 50-yard run two minutes later.
Unfortunately for Jones his finish was not as good as the build-up as he poked his shot just wide.
Wolves were then frustrated again after 21 minutes after Jones' corner was headed goalwards by Seyi Olofinjana only for Michael Hughes to clear the ball off the line.
While Palace were defending solidly with Darren Ward and Hudson impressive at the heart of the backline, their impact in attack was minimal and Murray was belatedly forced back into action four minutes before half-time when he saved a long-range drive from Danny Granville.