Captain Antonio Di Natale shook off a knee injury he picked up in the UEFA Cup win over Tottenham in midweek to score a brace while Antonio Floro Flores added a first-half goal.
Roma also got their captain on the scoresheet as Francisco Totti netted a late penalty, but the goal was unable to inspire a comeback.
The defeat will no doubt pile further pressure on Giallorossi coach Luciano Spalletti, whose side are now just a point away from the relegation places in 15th position with only two wins to their name this season.
They were hardly short of chances to get more out of this game, and could have gone ahead as early as the eighth minute when Simone Perrotta latched on to a long pass forward from Cicinho but Udinese keeper Samir Handanovic made the save.
But immediately after that early sight of goal Roma fell behind. Max Tonetto brought down Floro Flores in the area, the referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Di Natale made it 1-0 with 10 minutes played.
The Udinese captain then turned provider 12 minutes later as the home side struck again. Floro Flores got on the end of Di Natale's long ball before taking on Simone Loria and firing a diagonal shot past a hesitant Alexander Doni in the Roma goal.
The frustration told on Roma who, finding no luck in front of goal, went looking for a penalty of their own on the half-hour mark as Mirko Vucinic went down under a challenge from Maurizio Domizzi, but got nothing except for a yellow card for his troubles.
The capital club continued to look for an opening, but by piling men forward they always looked likely to let Udinese in again, and they did just that six minutes into the second half.
A swift counter-attacking move ended with Di Natale in acres of space, and he was able to pick his spot and fire the ball past Doni again from inside the box.
They were nearly caught again after 56 minutes, this time Floro Flores made his way into the Roma area on the break but Doni was equal to the shot.
But Roma's chance did finally come when Matteo Brighi was brought down in the box by Handanovic with 15 minutes to play. Totti stepped up to convert the spot-kick.
The goal looked like it might breathe some life into Roma, and they came very close to adding a second with 10 minutes to play when Handanovic had to react quickly to tip a rasping long-range effort from Totti over the bar.
From the resulting corner Jeremy Menez found himself with a chance to shoot and again Handanovic had to be at his best to push the ball onto the woodwork.
The Frenchman shot wide from another scoring chance as time ticked away, while Daniele De Rossi also missed the target in injury time, but in the end Udinese held on to go level with Internazionale on 17 points and top of the standings on goal difference.
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