Wolves came out on top in a game of two penalties to climb out of the relegation zone and leave Nottingham Forest bottom of the Premier League.
Skipper Ruben Neves drove the hosts in front from the spot after a four-minute video assistant referee delay at the start of the second half.
After a second lengthy VAR intervention when referee Thomas Bramall initially missed Matheus Nunes pulling back Ryan Yates, Wolves keeper Jose Sa superbly turned away Brennan Johnson's spot-kick.
The save was made more remarkable as Sa has been playing with a broken bone in his wrist since he damaged it against Fulham on 13 August.