They looked to be on course for a ninth away win of the season when Stephen Elliott gave them a 12th minute lead with his 13th goal of the campaign.
But their advantage lasted just 60 seconds with South Korean international Seol Ki-Hyeon earning Wolves a point with his fourth goal in seven games.
While the draw leaves Sunderland still handily placed for automatic promotion the stalemate was a major blow to Wolves' hopes of forcing their way into the battle for a place in the play-offs.
They remain ten points adrift of sixth place after the sixth draw of Glenn Hoddle's 11 games in charge.
Elliott broke the deadlock in stunning style after just 12 minutes. He raced in from the right-hand side of the field after Stephen Wright and Jeff Whitley combined to set him up and took a quick look up before drilling a 25-yard drive past helpless goalkeeper, Michael Oakes.
But Sunderland barely had time to celebrate Elliott's strike before Wolves dragged themselves back on to level terms.
A left-wing cross from Lee Naylor was placed perfectly for Seol whose header from ten yards whistled past goalkeeper Thomas Myhre.
Wolves then made a determined bid to open up a lead only for Scottish international striker Kenny Miller to fire wide and then be denied by a smart save from Myhre.
Sunderland carried most of their threat through the impressive Elliott but he proved less effective from close-range than long-range when he sent two efforts wide in the final five minutes of the first half.
Wolves struggled to get into gear for much of the second half and would have been trailing after 49 minutes if it had not been for Oakes' superb one-handed save to push away a chip from Carl Robinson.
Miller remained the man most likely to win it for Wolves but his finishing again let him down after 66 minutes while skipper Paul Ince flashed a shot wide from the edge of the area five minutes later.
Sunderland mounted a late flurry and were inches away from victory 11 minutes from time when Dean Whitehead saw his shot fly just past the post after a cross from substitute Michael Bridges.