A superb late goal from Gabor Gyepes kept alive Cardiff's increasingly slim hopes of automatic promotion.
Relegated Charlton went ahead when the Cardiff defence flapped at Lloyd Sam's cross, 17-year-old Jonjo Shelvey on hand to toe-poke past Tom Heaton.
Nicky Bailey rammed in a second when Cardiff failed to clear a corner, before Chris Burke gave the visitors hope with a surging run and poke home.
With two minutes left Gyepes controlled superbly, turned and drilled the goal.
The Bluebirds slip to fifth in the league, but can still finish second if they win their last two matches and other results go their way.
One more point from those two games would guarantee a play-off spot.
At the end of the match there were calls from some sections of the home support for Addicks manager Phil Parkinson to go.
Charlton manager Phil Parkinson:
"I had an experienced team out there and yet we still looked naive.
"We're a team scarred from the season, when it's happened before, and [against Cardiff] we went into panic mode on and off the ball.
"Cardiff are a good side and I expected a reaction from the weekend and we got that.
"It was a tight game, we got the second goal and that should have been enough.
"The reaction from the supporters is understandable, I'd be feeling the same if I was sat there."
Cardiff manager Dave Jones:
"Saturday was a freak result. At this stage of the season you will get them.
"If we didn't show grit and determination on Saturday then it came flooding back [here] and we deserved to come back into it.
"It would have been hard to come away with nothing because it would have been tough to pick them up and we've got a hard game on Saturday against Ipswich.
"If we had gone into that on the back of two defeats it would have been a nervous occasion.
"But if we've got to limp over the line then we will. We've got to get another point."
Charlton: Elliot, Butterfield, Hudson, Ward, Youga, Sam (Spring 69), Zhi, Racon, Bailey, Shelvey (Holland 82), Burton (Kandol 60).
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Tuna.
Booked: Butterfield, Zhi, Bailey.
Goals: Shelvey 35, Bailey 80.
Cardiff: Heaton, Comminges, Gyepes, Roger Johnson (Purse 90), Kennedy, McCormack, Ledley, Rae, Parry (Eddie Johnson 83), Chopra (Burke 57), Bothroyd.
Subs Not Used: Scimeca, Matthews.
Booked: Bothroyd, Ledley.
Goals: Burke 82, Gyepes 89.
Att: 19,390
Ref: Iain Williamson (Berkshire).
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