Although they matched Sunderland for long periods they never looked like making a breakthrough and now face a hard fight to move clear of the relegation scrap at the bottom of the Championship.
Cardiff welcomed back skipper Graham Kavanagh but they were missing injured Wales international Danny Gabbidon and Tony Vidmar took his place in the centre of defence.
At right back for Cardiff was Darren Williams, the former Sunderland player who signed a permanent deal with the Bluebirds on Friday.
The Sunderland defence had difficulty in keeping a tight rein on 18-year-old Cameron Jerome who was leading the Cardiff line and he had the first sight of goal in the second minute but was pulled back for offside.
Sunderland almost made Cardiff pay for a defensive lapse in the eighth minute when home keeper Tony Warner had difficulty controlling an over-hit back pass from Willie Boland.
As the keeper struggled to control Stephen Elliott picked up the ball but Warner somehow managed to toe poke to safety.
On the half hour Wales international Carl Robinson leaped to head a Lawrence corner goalwards but Warner stretched to tip over the bar.
Both managers resisted changes at the interval but it was Sunderland who settled down the quickest as the second half got underway.
Cardiff were reduced to living off breakaways but in the 56th minute they almost broke the deadlock when a Boland cross was just too high for Peter Thorne who was waiting at the far post.
Sunderland then scored the goal their patient play deserved when a Cardiff defensive header went straight to Whitehead and he made no mistake by blasting his shot wide of the diving Warner.
Lawrence then made the game safe when he curled a shot in a shot from outside the area after Cardiff had once again failed to clear their lines.
Sunderland were now controlling the match with Julio Arca in outstanding form leaving Cardiff living off scraps.
The result leaves Cardiff languishing in fourth from the bottom with a difficult Christmas programme ahead.