This is a very obscure persistence mechanism that affects VMWare Tools versions that utilize the vm3dum DLL (‘VMware SVGA 3D Usermode’):

• c:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware\Drivers\video_wddm\vm3dum.dll

When loaded (which happens e.g. when Internet Explorer is launched) the DLL checks the content of the following registry key:

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Tools\Usermode\
  AdapterShimPath=<path>

and loads library that the path points to.

There is also one more key:

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Tools\Usermode\
  ShimPath=<path>

but the condition for loading this DLL is not entirely clear to me.