The result lifted Hull out of the drop zone into 17th position on 30 points from 31 games, while Boro remained 19th with 23 points from 30 matches after stretching their winless league run to 13 games.
Middlesbrough imploded after Alvaro Negredo had fired them into an early lead as Lazar Markovic, Baye Oumar Niasse and Abel Hernandez gave Hull a 3-1 advantage before Marten De Roon pulled one back from an offside position on the stroke of halftime.
The frantic pace dropped after the interval but Hull held the upper hand and sealed the contest when captain Harry Maguire headed home his first Premier League goal to give the Yorkshire club a fifth win in six home games under manager Marco Silva.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ken Ferris)
